Almost perfect proves not enough
Archery compound superstar Mike Schloesser shot a near perfect 149 out of 150, but unfortunately for the Dutch favourite for gold, his superb round was still not sufficient to progress further. His Indian opponent, Abishek Verma, with the round of his life matched the World Number 1 arrow for arrow also dropping just one point. In the single arrow shoot out, both again hit the bull, but the Indian's arrow was closer to the centre point. Schloesser does have another medal chance in the mixed team compound final against Colombia, who have top ranked women's archer Sara Lopez. The guaranteed silver means that Lopez will have at least one medal from each edition of The World Games.
The Golden Years
Yukako Fukushima of Japan is another athlete who has multiple medals in her collection. The Powerlifter first appeared at her home games in Akita in 2001, stood on the podium and then repeated the process every four years. Now in 2022, at the age of 52(!), she has become the first female athlete to appear at six editions of The World Games. Even more remarkably, Birmingham is the edition where earned her first ever gold medal. Another Powerlifting legend with a career of longevity and excellence is Larysa Soloviova, who is the only female athlete to win four gold medals in four editions of The World Games. She came to the Magic City looking for gold number five. That proved out of reach from the very first round, when eventual winner Carola Garra of Italy astonished the fans by setting a new World Record with each of her first three lifts! In the benchpress discipline, Larysa had a disastrous round, and faced elimination after failing with her first two attempts. Fortunately for her legacy at The World Games she made the last attempt, and went on to secure third position and the coveted fifth medal. In a dramatic and emotional Final, Taylor Lachapelle was also a history maker, her silver medal meant she became the first person from the Virgin Islands US to stand on The World Games podium.
Golden Handshake
Sandra Sanchez signed off her time at The World Games in the perfect manner, upgrading her silver medal from Wroclaw 2017. The Spanish karate star showed the mark of a true champion, increasing her judged score in every round. Her gold medal can be safely stored with the precious souvenir that she took away from Tokyo 2020. The final in Birmingham was her final competitive bout, so she walks away from the sport as The World Games and Olympic Champion. Antonio Diaz thought he had retired from the sport too, after making the bronze final in Tokyo. However a competitor dropped out, so the karate athlete needed no persuasion to come to Birmingham for a record equalling sixth edition of The World Games. Only Tug of War legend James Kehoe has been to more editions, nine in total. Sadly, there was no fairytale ending for Diaz, who had previously medalled in all editions he attended. He lost to eventual silver medallist Damian Quintero. The bittersweet silver is becoming an all too familiar experience for the Spaniard, three major finals at The World Games and the Olympics, and nothing golden to show for his efforts.
Two Sixes for my shirt
It was a rocky start for Sweden, the defending champions of The World Games in the floorball qualifiers. The nine times World Champions were surprised by a valiant Latvian side who have never made a medal match in their history. Both sides regularly found the net, whilst the Latvian goalkeeper had a storming game, repeatedly keeping the yellow shirts at bay. The game eventually ended in an entertaining 6-6 tie, a fantastic result for the unfancied Latvians.
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.