The 2022 World Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, United States. They were the 11th

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of

Olympic sports Olympic sports are sports that are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympics included 32 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented at the Internation ...

and other competitions that are not currently contested at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

; the Games featured 3,457 athletes competing in 223 medal events over 34 total sports. They were originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but were postponed by one year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They were the second edition of the World Games to be hosted by the United States since their inaugural edition in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Bidding process

The cities that bid for the 2022 Games were: *

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru *

Ufa Ufa is a city in Russia and the capital of the republic of Bashkortostan. UFA or Ufa may also refer to: Places * Ufa (river), a river in Russia; a tributary of the Belaya * Ufa International Airport, near the Russian city * Ufa railway statio ...

, Russia *

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, United States

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

also considered bids. Cities paid a $125,000 application fee, and submitted information about "venues, infrastructure, volunteers, budget, transportation and other elements". Birmingham's bid, publicly announced in June 2014, was presented by Edgar Welden, Scotty Myers, and David Benck. It was the only American city authorized to make a bid for these games. Myers, the executive director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, said the bid was "a dream, but it's not a pipe dream. It's attainable." At the time, organizers projected a budget of $75 million, and the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau anticipated an economic impact of between $224.4 million and $288.6 million in out-of-town dollars. On January 22, 2015, at its meeting in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, the

International World Games Association The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World ...

(IWGA) elected Birmingham as host of the 2021 World Games. Lima would later host the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

. On April 4, 2020, the Games were postponed to 2022 due to the

and the associated postponement of the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Venues

Venues for The World Games 2022 include: *

Avondale Park Avondale Park is a small park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, between Walmer and Sirdar Roads. It has a mix of formal gardens, sports facilities and lawns. Notably, it is home to what is believed to be Britain's ...

– archery *

Barber Motorsports Park Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...

– air sports (

canopy piloting Canopy piloting encompasses several disciplines, all involving the flight of a skydiving parachute. Swooping is a form of canopy piloting associated with advanced skydiving. Records World records that have been recorded and verified include:{{ ...

) * Bessie Estell Park (next to

PNC Field PNC Field is a 10,000-seat minor league baseball stadium that is located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area that was built in 1989 and rebuilt in 2013. The stadium is home to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailR ...

) – boules sports *

Birmingham CrossPlex The Birmingham CrossPlex is a $46 million indoor track and aquatic facility developed by the City of Birmingham, Alabama as the centerpiece of the redevelopment of the Alabama State Fairgrounds near Five Points West. The facility's 200-meter hyd ...

Bill Harris Arena The W. F. "Bill" Harris State Fair Arena (called Bill Harris Arena or Fair Park Arena) is a 5,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena located at the Birmingham CrossPlex (formerly Alabama State Fairgrounds). The arena is used primarily for basketbal ...

: artistic skating, inline hockey :* Natatorium: canoe polo, finswimming, lifesaving :* Indoor Track: wheelchair rugby *

Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

:* Concert Hall: powerlifting :* East Exhibition Hall: floorball, korfball :*

Legacy Arena Legacy Arena (formerly known as the BJCC Coliseum and the BJCC Arena) is an arena located at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Alabama. The arena seats 17,654 for sporting events, up to 16,250 for concerts and 6,000 i ...

: dancesport (Latin, rock n roll, standard), gymnastics (acrobatic, aerobic, rhythmic, trampoline and tumbling) :* North Exhibition Hall: bowling :* Sheraton Hotel Ballroom: billiards sports *

Birmingham Southern College Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Bill Battle Coliseum Bill Battle Coliseum is a 2,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The arena opened in 1981 and was home to the Birmingham-Southern College Panthers basketball team. The arena will be the venue for karate, Ju-jitsu at the 2022 Wo ...

: ju-jitsu, karate, wushu :* BSC Panther Soccer Field: fistball :* campus: orienteering (sprint) *

Boutwell Auditorium Boutwell Memorial Auditorium is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1924 as Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium, on a site near City Hall, facing Capitol Park (now Linn Park). The building was designed ...

– kickboxing, muay thai, sumo *

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, also known as The Hoover Met, is a baseball stadium located in Hoover, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham. It was home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League from 1988 to 2012, replacing histor ...

– softball * John Carroll Catholic High School – flying disc *

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ...

–

flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...

* Oak Mountain State Park :* Double Oak Lake: canoe marathon, water skiing and wakeboard :* nature: orienteering (middle distance) *

Powell Steam Plant Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...

– track speedskating, road speedskating *

Protective Stadium Protective Stadium is an outdoor multi-purpose stadium owned and operated by the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. Since its opening in 2021, the stadium ...

– opening and closing ceremonies, air sports (

drone racing Drone racing is a motorsport where participants operate radio-controlled aircraft (typically small quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle, drones) equipped with onboard digital camera, digital video cameras, with the operator looking at a compa ...

) * Railroad Park – duathlon (start and finish), orienteering (sprint relay) *

Regions Field Regions Field is a minor league baseball park in the Southside community of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. It is the home field for the Birmingham Barons of the Southern League, and it replaced Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in the Birmingham suburb ...

– orienteering (part of sprint relay) *

Sloss Furnaces Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. It operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. After closing, it became one of the first industrial sites (and the only blast furnac ...

– beach handball, dancesport (breaking), gymnastics (parkour), sport climbing *

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

: lacrosse :* University Recreation Center: racquetball, squash :* track and field complex: tug of war

The Games

Sports

The 2022 World Games programme featured 30 official sports including 54 disciplines encompassing 206 events. This was the first time that

canoe marathon Canoe marathon is a paddling sport in which athletes paddle a kayak (double-bladed paddle) or canoe (single-bladed paddle) over a long distance to the finish line. The International Canoe Federation states standard distance races are at least wit ...

, breaking, women's

fistball Fistball is a sport of European origin, primarily played in the German-speaking nations of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, as well as in Brazil. The objective of the game is similar to volleyball, in that teams try to hit a ball over a net, b ...

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

, and

parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...

were included in the World Games as official sports.

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

and

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

returned to the official World Games programme. Invitational sports comprising 17 events included

duathlon Duathlon is an sports, athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The World Triathlon governs the sport internationally. Distance and format Duathlon ...

wheelchair rugby Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for Disabled sport, athletes with a disability. It is practiced in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic spor ...

wushu Wushu may refer to: Martial arts * Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China * Wushu (sport) Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...

(taolu) and men's

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. Both men's and women's field lacrosse were played in a six-a-side format. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sports discipline. *^T *^P *^B *^P * *^P *^T *^B *^AD * *^T *^B *^O *^B *^T * Gymnastics **^AD **^AD **^AD **^AD *^M *^M *^M *^B * *^T *^M *^T *^AD * ^S *^B * Roller sports **^AD **^B **^T **^T *^B *^T *^B *^M *^S *^T * * ;Notes :AD: Artistic and Dance sports :B: Ball sports :O: Optional sports, selected by the host city :M: Martial arts :P: Precision sports :S: Strength sports :T: Trend sports

Participating nations

On February 19, 2021, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

announced that certain

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n athletes would be allowed to compete under the designation "ROC" (for Russian Olympic Committee) at the

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and Beijing 2022 Winter Games. This penalty also applied through end of 2022 and would have been applied to events affiliated with the International Olympic Committee, such as The World Games. Following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, athletes from

along with

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

were barred from the 2022 World Games, per the IOC's recommendations. Russia originally qualified 62 athletes while Belarus was set to send 11 athletes. Part of the ticket revenue was donated to Ukraine for rebuilding sports venues after the Russian invasion of the country. Athletes from 110

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s were scheduled to participate. In total, athletes from 99 delegations competed at the 2022 World Games. The only representative team in the 2022 World Games not represented by a

were the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

teams competing in lacrosse. They were originally not allowed to enter by the International World Games Association due to not having a NOC. A special dispensation was made possible by an act of sportsmanship by the Ireland lacrosse team, who withdrew from its qualifying position to allow the Haudenosaunee to compete.

Calendar

Source

Medal table

In the Women's 4 × 50 m obstacle relay of the

lifesaving Lifesaving is the act involving rescue, resuscitation and first aid. It often refers to water safety and aquatic rescue; however, it could include ice rescue, flood and river rescue, swimming pool rescue and other emergency medical servic ...

competition, two gold medals were awarded and thus no silver medal was awarded. In the Women's 500 m sprint of the track speed skating competition, only the one gold medal was awarded as the remaining competitors in the final were disqualified.

Medal design

The event's medal design was unveiled in February 2022.

Community engagement

The World Games 2022 Experience Delivered by Shipt

In March 2019, The World Games 2022 unveiled a mobile experience, designed to generate excitement for the event and educate the local community on the sports of The 2022 Games. The traveling Mercedes Sprinter Van includes a rock climbing wall, a sumo wrestling activity, photo opportunities and an interactive trivia game where guests can win prizes. The van made its official debut at the 15th Annual MortgageBanc Chili Cook-Off on March 2, 2019. It continues to tour throughout 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

World of Opportunity

In June 2019, The World Games 2022 announced the kickoff of their supplier diversity program, World of Opportunity. The program, which was unveiled to an audience of 400 at the Birmingham CrossPlex, allows certified, diverse businesses to compete for contracts to provide goods and services for The World Games 2022. The categories accepted include (but are not limited to) transportation services, event production, security, promotional items, merchandise, sports equipment, food service, technology, printing, medical supplies, event equipment, waste removal and construction services.

Broadcasting

In July 2021, it was announced that

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports ...

would broadcast one-hour highlights shows on each of the ten days of competition, and two additional one-hour specials will be shown on other CBS channels and on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

Olympic Channel Olympic Channel is an over-the-top Internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was launched on August 21, 2016, alongside the closing of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The service aims to maintain year-round ...

also carried coverage.

References

External links

Official websiteResults book
{{EventsAt2022WorldGames

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Sports competitions in Birmingham, Alabama International sports competitions hosted by the United States Multi-sport events in the United States

Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Sports events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine