Cheerleading and Powerboating make their debut
The International World Games Association has completed compiling the Sports Programme for the Games in 2025 in Chengdu, People's Republic of China. During the IWGA Annual General Meeting in Spain at the beginning of May, the members ratified 30 sports for the 12th edition of The World Games, to be held from 7th to 17th August 2025. Now, the sports that will find their stage in the capital of Sichuan Province on the proposal of the host city, or as para sports, have also been decided. These sports/disciplines are Cheerleading (Double Pom), Canoe (Dragon Boat), Roller Sports (Freestyle - Inline), Triathlon (Duathlon), American Football (Flag Football) & Powerboating (MotoSurf).
For para sports: Para Freediving (Underwater Sports), Para Ju-Jitsu (Ju-Jitsu), Low Point Wheelchair Rugby and Para Dance Sport (to be confirmed, Wheelchair Dance).
This brings the total number of sports taking part in The World Games 2025 up to 35. The list of sports can be found here.
For the first time, Powerboating (fully electrically powered) and Cheerleading will be represented at The World Games. In the sector of para sports, Para Freediving, Para Ju-Jitsu and Para Dance Sport (to be confirmed) will make their debut. Wheelchair Rugby was already represented at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, USA. Flag Football, on the programme in 2022 at the invitation of the host city, will be able to present itself again in China. Duathlon was also part of the Games in Birmingham in this way. The discipline within the World Triathlon was already represented in Cali, Colombia in 2013.
In the meantime, it has also been largely approved which disciplines will be part of the competition programme. These disciplines are participating for the first time in The World Games: Powerlifting Classic, Roller Sports Freestyle, Kickboxing Point Fighting, Beach Korfball, Underwater Sports Freediving. Cable Wakeboard was last on the programme in 2005 at the Games in Duisburg. Dragon Boat Racing, as a discipline within the International Canoe Federation, was part of The World Games in 2009 in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, as an invitational sport. Wushu Sanda makes a debut in the official programme, as it was invitational in 2013.
IWGA Sports Director Sebastian Garvens explains how the programme was composed: "Two years before the start of the Games, the programme is largely fixed. The fact that we were able to include new sports and new disciplines in consultation with our member federations (IFs) and our partners in Chengdu shows that The World Games are evolving, and taking into account the trends in the world of sport and our IFs. Another important criterion for us is gender equality. Here, too, we have become a role model for other events. After we had para sport as part of the competition programme for the first time in 2022, we have been able to expand this area significantly for the Games in Chengdu. What is important for us is that the para competitions are not a separate event. They are included in The World Games edition like any other sport or discipline."
The decision on sports and disciplines now allows our member federations to start the qualification process for the The World Games as well. The first qualifying event is the Men’s Fistball World Championships in Germany from 22-29 July 2023.
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 World Games 2022 was held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and 100 countries took part in the Games. The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu, CHN in 2025.
