Swings High
Speed skater Bart Swings confirmed his status as a legend of The World Games with another two golden moments moving him into 4th place on the list of all time medallists in the premier multi-sports event for non-Olympic athletes. Despite the Birmingham rain storms that have caused the track racing to often be delayed, the Belgian ace has remained focused, having already picked up two other golds and one bronze. Hopefully he has a big suitcase to pack all his souvenirs from his stay in the Magic City. The speedster was just as successful in the previous two editions of The World Games, winning a handful of precious metals in both Wroclaw 2017 and Cali 2013. If this was not impressive enough, when he switches to ice skates, he is just as difficult to beat; becoming the Winter Olympics champion in Beijing having previously taken silver in PyongChang.
Pool Champion Resurfaces
Another versatile athlete is Petra Senanszky, the Hungarian finswimmer who won two individual finals earlier in the week, doubling her golden tally at The World Games from Wroclaw 2017. Just for good measure she helped her country to relay silver as well. On Sunday, she resurfaced in the pool but this time in the different sport of Lifesaving. In a thrilling Obstacle Relay race, Hungary and Poland finished in an equal time and could not be separated so both nations were awarded gold. This therefore makes Petra the first athlete to become a champion of The World Games in two distinct sports. There have previously been athletes who have reigned supreme in distinctly different disciplines of the same sport, but nobody has received medals from two different International Federations.
Need for vitesse
If you are a French competitor and wish to become the fastest athlete at The World Games, here is a simple tip to guarantee success; change your name to Rousseau. It worked for two French racers yesterday. Life Saver Magali Rousseau, a multiple champion from the last two editions of The World Games struck gold again in Birmingham. This makes her the most successful competitor in the history of the sport with six golds and one bronze, and she will have further medal opportunities today. Killian Rousseau was consistently the best pilot at the Drone Racing, so he would likely have won gold anyway, without the assistance of all his competitors in the final crashing their drones into the course arches.
Stars and Stripes
Fans of the host nation finally got to hear the Stars and Stripes being played as accompaniment to a Birmingham podium ceremony. In the popular new dance Sport of Breaking, B-Boys Victor and Jeffo made it an American 1-2 on the top steps of the podium, this was after New Yorker B-Girl Sunny had gained the silver medal.
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.