Thrice is nice! After the second competition day at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama there are four athletes who feel pretty great having already won three gold medals. Chengjing Shu, Yaoyao Hu (both CHN), Max Poschart (GER) who compete in Finswimming and Johana Viveros (COL) in Speed Skating have taking the lead in the ranking of the multi medalists. Looking to the medal tally by country, Colombia took the lead with seven gold medals, four silvers and three bronze.
Colombia is traditionally strong in speed skating. This was also evident on Saturday. On the track at the Powell Avenue Steam Plant, Johana Viveros won two golds for her country. The 28-year-old was unbeatable in the 1000-meter sprint and the 10,000-meter elimination race. Another gold medal was added in a real nail biter of a final at the Archeryat Avondale Park. Sara Lopez and Daniel Munoz won compound mixed team gold via a tiebreak 20-19 decider against Netherlands after the four ends had finished all-square (154-154). "I am so, so over the moon right now," said Colombia's Sara Lopez. "I am so relieved that this is over. It was really hot. I’m just so proud and so happy right now."
Another gold medal was added in Finswimming with the Men's Surface Relay 4x50m winning in 1:01.13 min and setting a new world record. Another new world record with a time of 1:08.95 was set by Women's Surface Relay 4x50m of the People's Republic of China at CrossPlex - Natatorium.
Max Poschart of Germany proved that he was rightfully named IWGA Athlete of the Day on the first day of competition with two more gold medals in Finswimming. Thrice is nice - this is also true for the team from Ukraine. Anita Serogina won the third gold medal for her country at the Games with her final victory in the 61 kilo class in the Karate discipline at Bill Battle Coliseum in Birmingham-South College.
Karate competitions concluded yesterday with massive applause for Ukraine. Anita Serogina won the women’s 61 kg category and Stanislav Horuna took silver in the 75 kg category. The audience cheered for them as loudly as for the home participants from the USA. The Ukrainian athletes later said that on the streets of Birmingham they almost feel at home, because people are so welcoming and warm. “When they hear that we are from Ukraine, we can literally feel their support.”
Also in Powerlifting the Ukrainian athletes shone, despite the difficult training conditions on the road to Birmingham. Volodymyr Rysyiev won the men’s heavyweight class, where Danylo Kovalov got bronze. Ian Bell (Virgin Islands) won the silver medal 29 years after his father won gold at The World Games. Ukrainian Mykola Barannik won silver in the middleweight class behind the winner, Kjell Erik Bakkelund (NOR). The women’s heavyweight class was dominated by Polish junior Agata Sitko, who lifted a new World Record in Deadlift, 261 kg.
In DanceSport, the German couple Uhl/Bludau took a convincing victory in Rock ‘n’ Roll. In Standard, both gold and bronze medals went to Lithuania, while silver went to Italy.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and over 100 countries will take part in The World Games.
