Although The World Games itself is not being organised in 2018, there are still plenty of opportunities to see action from the individual sports’ World Championships. A number of sports of The World Games will get further opportunities to shine with their participation in multi-sports events. It is a big year for Karate, Sport Climbing, Roller Sports (Roller Speed Skating) and DanceSport (Breakdancing) as their federations will get the chance to hand out Olympic medals for the first time, thanks to their inclusion in the Youth Olympics taking place in Buenos Aires.
The same four sports (with the exception of Baseball/Softball coming in for DanceSport) plus Bowling, Ju-Jitsu and Squash will also feature in the Asian Games hosted by the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang. In Australia’s Gold Coast, Squash doubles up as it makes another appearance in the programme of the Commonwealth Games alongside Rhythmic Gymnastics, Netball and Powerlifting. Birmingham, the host of the next edition of The World Games in 2021 will get an early taste of what to expect, when the Alabama city stages a DanceSport Open Competition. Wroclaw, which did a wonderful job in staging the 2017 edition, has got the seal of approval from Air Sports, who will stage their Canopy Piloting World Championships at the same venue where the medals were awarded last year.
January
19-25 Surfing Longboard World Championships Wanning, Hainan Island (CHN)
February
2-3 DanceSport Open Birmingham (USA)
7-11 Indoor Hockey World Championships Berlin (GER)
March
7-11 Tug of War Indoor World Championships Xuzhou (CHN)
19-24 Wakeboarding World Championships Buenos Aires (ARG)
April
5-13 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast (AUS)
13-15 Gymnastics Acrobatic World Championships Antwerp (BEL)
21-7th May Snooker World Championships Sheffield (GBR)
30-6th May Air Sports Paramotor World Championships Pasak Jolasid Dam, Lopburi (THA)
May
5 DanceSports Latin World Championships Shijiazhuang City (CHN)
10-19 MuayThai World Championships Cancun (MEX) City
June
1-3 Gymnastics Aerobics World Championships Guimares (POR)
July
1-8 Roller Sports Speed Skating World Championships Heerde (NED)
3-7 Air Sports Canopy Piloting World Championships Wroclaw (POL)
12-21 Lacrosse Men’s World Championships Netanya (ISR)
14-21 Finswimming World Championships Belgrade (SRB)
20-22 Rugby Sevens World Championships San Francisco (USA)
21-22 Sumo Wrestling World Championships Taoyuan (TPE)
24-28 Fistball Women’s World Championships Linz (AUT)
24-29 Beach Handball World Championships TBA (RUS)
31-5 August Canoe Polo World Championships Welland (CAN)
August
2-12 Air Sports Glider Aerobatics World Championships Zbraslavice (CZE)
2-12 Softball Womens 3 cushion World Championships Chiba (JPN)
4-11 Orienteering World Championships Riga and Sigulda (LAT)
10-18 Racquetball Haining City (CHN)
- 18-2nd Sep Asian Games Jakarta + Palembang (INA)
September
4-9 Archery Field World Championships Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA)
6-16 Sport Climbing World Championships Innsbruck (AUT)
10-16 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Sofia (BUL)
18-20 Billiards Ladies 3 cushion World Championships TBA (TUR)
19-28 Lacrosse Indoor World Championships Langley (CAN)
October
3-14 Roller Sports Artistic Skating TBA (FRA)
6-18 Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires (ARG)
21-28 Boules Women World Championships Jiaxing (CHN)
November
3 DanceSport 10D World Championships Vila Nova de Familcao (POR)
4-10 Powerlifting Open World Championships Halmstad (SWE)
7-10 Gymnastics Trampoline/Tumbling World Championships St Petersburg (RUS)
9-11 Bodybuilding World Championships Benidorm (ESP)
16-2 December Lifesaving World Championships Adelaide (AUS)
22-25 Ju-Jitsu World Championships Malmo (SWE)
26-30 Billiards 3 cushion World Championships Randers (DEN)
December
1-9 Floorball Mens World Championships Prague (CZE)
2 Dance Sport Standard World Championships Moscow (RUS)
9-15 Pool 9 ball World Championships Doha (QAT)
By Brian Salmon for The World Games.