At the start of the 1980s, the sibling pop group Sister Sledge achieved worldwide popularity with their breakthrough single, “We are Family”. Were they to be asked to write a song for the imminent 11th edition of The World Games, they would surely have to change the title to “We Archery Family”! This is because the sport of arrows and targets has so many married couples competing in Birmingham,Alabama. However, the archers are far from alone in having siblings and spouses compete in the Magic City; here is a rundown of all the sports where the athletes are truly putting family into The World Games Family.
When it comes to power couples in the sport of arrow shooter, there is one name that springs immediately to mind - the Ellisons. Husband Brady will surely relish the opportunity of demonstrating his considerable prowess, in front of his fellow Americans. The Arizona bowman relishes the big occasion, but there is one significant omission in his near perfect tournament C.V. At the last edition of The World Games, in Wroclaw, Poland, Ellison struggled in the final to find his consistency and had to settle for the silver medal. That made four finals at both the Olympics and The World Games, where Brady had qualified for the biggest match, but failed to convert to a top podium finish. After a disappointing performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, “The Prospector” will be hoping that the support of his home fans will finally propel him to the discovery of the long sought after gold medal. Despite being born on the 4th of July and living in the States, wife Toja still competes for her native Slovenia; like Brady she also had final heartbreak in Poland.
Toja faces stiff competition in Poland for the top podium spot in the compound competition in Birmingham, not only must she beat defending champion Sara Lopez (COL) she will need to see off current European Champion Tanja Gellenthien. The Dane is married to fellow Birmingham bound bowman Braden Gellenthien; the American has had much success as part of a strong USA team, but is not quite as successful in individual tournaments. That is due in part, to having to compete against the brilliant Dutch archer Mike Schloesser. “Mister Perfect”, a four-time World Champion and the long standing World Number 1 ranked Compound Archer, is in sizzling form in the approach to Birmingham, having won four consecutive tournaments this year. Mike will be joined in Alabama by wife Gaby, whose switch from competing for her native Mexico to The Netherlands paid off big time at the Tokyo Olympics, when she and her mixed recurve partner came away with the silver medal.
This was her second time at the Olympics, having lost to German Lisa Unruh, the eventual Rio silver medallist. Lisa would go on to become The World Games champion in Wroclaw; a miraculous comeback and a tense one arrow tiebreak would provide one of the most dramatic moments of the 2017 edition. Lisa is not competing in Birmingham, having recently announced her retirement, but will still be present cheering on husband and fellow Olympian, Florian. No pressure Florian, but that is a lot to live up to!
Unsurprisingly, with many of the athletes that take part in DanceSport, working together so closely with their dance partner, they will often find that their professional relationship matures into a romantic friendship. One notable example of this are Moldovan married couple Gabriele Goffredo & Anna Matus. They are the two-time Latin champions at The World Games, and will have the opportunity in Birmingham to become the first couple to win three gold medals in DanceSport. In fact,Gabriele already has three medals, having competed with his sister Antonella for his native Italy in the 2009 edition, where he picked up a bronze medal. The Moldovan pairing nearly did not happen; Anna initially rejected Gabriele’s approach to form a professional partnership, as she was wary of his passionate approach to dance. However, she relented and agreed to a trial dance, immediately there was an amazing chemistry and the two knew they were meant for one another.
In Standard, the Fainsil couple from Germany are another arranged pair. Tomas had never met Violetta in person; however the videos he had seen of the Lithuanian performing persuaded him that they could have a special partnership. Their smiling interviews prove Tomas definitely had a point. The other dancers competing in Birmingham where the professional partnerships turned into lasting romances are Noemi & Nicolas Kuran-Pellegata (SUI), Hiroaki & Sakina Onishi (JPN), Eros & Anna Sciamanna (POL), Nikita & Hanna Bazev (ICE), and Daniel & Anastasiya Rubashevsky (USA). Should the Californian couple win medals in Birmingham, it would be a particularly emotional moment, as Anastasiya is originally from Ukraine.
It is not just Archery nor DanceSport where the athletes will be competing as families, a number of other sports will also have relatives cheering a significant other and then participating themselves. This is particularly so if the sport has a “pool” connection. Let's meet the Canopy Pilots swooping into the water, the Finswimmers propelling themselves to glory and the sharp shooting Billiards players who have a shared gene pool.
In the world of canopy swooping, there are few better teams than Alter Ego, known for their spectacular displays and their adrenaline filled videos. The Florida based team are used to working together, but when four of their athletes arrive in Birmingham, it is going to be every man and woman for themselves. This is because the team is contributing two families to The World Games Air Sports roster. Curtis Bartholomew won gold in Cali 2013 and then followed up with silver at the 2013 edition. Wife Jeannie, not only watched the podium presentation; she had also participated in the competition. The American couple will once again be going head to head, but this time will be extra special in front of their home fans. Their Alter Ego team mates (and brothers) Franco and Marco Darman were set to renew their fraternal rivalry, as to who is the best Argentinian pilot at The World Games; unfortunately injury has led to Marco's withdrawal. Despite this, there is still one pair of brothers included on the Birmingham start lists. The Italian pair of Armando and Mario Fattoruso always knew from an early age, that they wanted to follow their father into the ranks of professional canopy pilots.
There is also an interesting family connection in the billiards sport of pool. Jasmin Ouschan is a two-time finalist at The World Games, winning gold for Austria in 2005, and following up with silver four years later. Though she is not competing in Birmingham, her younger brother Albin will be there. Albin is one of a number of former world champions, ready to shoot for glory in a high-quality field. Another is Joshua Filler, the German is in good form having recently won the UK Open. Filler is sure to take a keen interest in the women's competition, where wife Pia is also going for gold. From the sport of pool to the sport in the pool. Recently, Finswimmer Max Poschart has been breaking records for fun, and is expected to be one of the star performers of The Games, and wife Elena could well be joining him on the podium.
There will be a special screening of Sister Act 2 in the Boules competitions. In the Precision Shooting, there will be an encounter between Sabrina Polito Molina (CHI) and Buket Ozturk (TUR). Then in the Progressive Shooting, they will be cheering on their sisters, Melisa (CHI) and gold medal favourite Inci Ece (TUR).
They will not be the only siblings competing in different disciplines. During the Opening Ceremony, the Afghanistan team will be the first set of athletes presented to the crowd. Proudly holding the Afghan flag will be Muaythai fighters Kawsar & Freshta Sherzad. Kawsar is entered for the 48 kg category while Freshta will be contesting the next weight category. There is a similar situation in Ju-Jitsu, where Austrians Anna & Lisa Fuhrmann will have different classes. You would expect Powerlifting sibling pair Noah & Kimberly Johnson to be competing at varied weights, what you would not expect is they would do so for different countries. American Noah will be proudly standing under The Stars and Stripes, while his sister will be equally proudly competing for the US Virgin Islands. The many relatives competing in the Birmingham edition of The Would Games extra special, and we are sure to be seeing many happy families standing on the medal podiums during the upcoming days.
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.