The World Games starts tonight with a spectacular opening ceremony, and a party hosted by some of the biggest names in American music. However, the real stars of tonight’s show are the people walking behind the national flags. Each athlete has trained for months and years for this opportunity to represent their nation on the biggest non-Olympic stage. Everyone will have a story of talent developed, frustrations on the journey to become a world class athlete, setbacks and triumphs. Let’s meet some of the athletes who for the next eleven days will be thrilling and amazing fans, as they take centre stage.
The nation that will be at the head of the Athletes Parade will be Afghanistan, who will be competing for the first time at The World Games. They are represented by two remarkable sisters, Kawsar and Freshta Sherzad. The Muaythai fighters had to flee their country when the Taliban regained control, as the regime has a reputation for punishing female athletes. They are now settled into a new life in the United States, where they have been warmly received by the athletes in their new gym.
The Birmingham edition of The World Games will see breaking added to the DanceSport roster of dance disciplines. For Belgian breaker B-Girl Madmax, a visit to a train station literally took an unexpected turn, as she embarked on a surprise journey to Austria and now, Alabama. The first time she encountered breaking was when a street crew were practising their moves in Bruges station. She lacked confidence to approach the group, but later chatted with a school mate, who introduced her to the crew and to some moves. She progressed rapidly and was invited to the Youth Olympics in Salzburg, where she won the silver medal, and is now part of a professional crew.
Corrado Moscoso is unique, he is one in a million; or more accurately he is one in 11 million, (the population of Bolivia) being the only athlete from Bolivia to ever win a gold medal at the Pan American Games. As his country has never won a medal at the Olympics, any medal in racquetball in Birmingham would be met with delirious delight.
Wushu is another sport making its debut in The Magic City, and for Brunei athlete Basma Lackhar, closed sporting doors led to another one opening up in a huge way. When younger, she was looking to join an after-school club, but all had full membership lists apart from one; wushu. Since taking up the sport she has gone to the Southeast Asian Games twice, being the losing finalist on both occasions. Now here she is on the biggest stage of all.
Cambodia lacks sporting heroes, they have never had an Olympic medallist, and until recently, it appears they never could lay claim to a World Champion in any sport. Petanque player Ouk Sreymom was given a cash award by the grateful President of Cambodia when she recently became World Champion in the sport. Greatness beckons for her as Cambodia make their debut at The World Games.
Archer Roberto Hernandez is a national hero in El Salvador, he already has a bronze medal from The World Games edition in Cali, Colombia in 2013, and he became the first male athlete from his country to win gold at The Pan American Games.
Kylie Grimes became the first female Paralympics athlete to win a gold medal in the final of the wheelchair rugby, as Great Britain swept all before them. Now she has a new challenge. For the first time, disability sport is being included on the program of The World Games in Birmingham. Will she be able to repeat her Tokyo success in the Magic City?
Also making history are the Haudenosaunee Nation, who become the first ethnic group to be represented at The World Games as a nation in their own right. Their presence is due to an outstanding act of sportsmanship by the Irish lacrosse team, who permitted the Iroquois founders of their sport to take their qualification place.
Indonesia Sports Climbers Veddriq Leonardo and Kiromal Katibin are among the fastest athletes in Birmingham. In competition last year, one of them broke the world record, only for the other of them to break the newly established record minutes later. Both can scale the wall in a scarcely believable five seconds.
Drone racing is another new sport making its debut this year. Among the best pilots is Luiza Rizzo, who regularly beats the young men to become Italian national champion on multiple occasions. What makes Luiza special is that she is a wheelchair user from birth, and took up the sport to strengthen the limited movement in her hands.
It was to be expected that Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah would excel at sport, all her siblings are excellent waterskiers, and her brother Alex Yoong was the only Malaysian driver to be offered a seat in a Formula 1 car. Even at the remarkable age of eight, Aaliyah was already on the water and winning gold at the Southeast Asian Games!
Korfball has been traditionally dominated by The Netherlands, who have won every gold medal at The World Games. However, another Dutch speaking nation has arisen to try and challenge their dominance. Suriname won the Pan American Championship, which enabled them to qualify for the World Championship, another good performance there, allowed them to book their ticket to Birmingham.
The final nation in the Athletes Parade tonight will of course be the host nation The United States. It will be a special night for Birmingham native Haylie McCleney who returns to her home city with the silver Olympic medal for softball in her possession. She was the top batter for USA in Tokyo and was named to the All Star Olympic Team. However, despite her best efforts, she was unable to prevent long standing rivals Japan from claiming the Olympic title. The two top sides are set to clash again in Birmingham, with the winner taking the title of World Champion as well as The World Games gold medal. All the best to every athlete in the parade tonight. May you in the coming days be able to produce the performance that you have been dreaming of.
Brian Salmon for The World Games
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.