World Games 2022 Adds Drone Racing, Breaking and Parkour

Two years out from its rescheduled opening ceremony, The World Games 2022 has unveiled the list of sports that athletes will compete in when they head to Birmingham, Alabama, for the multisport event.

The official program will include 30 sports, 54 disciplines and 207 medal events. The vast majority of the sports are returning from the program at the last event in 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland. But the program also contains several new events and some that will return after a hiatus.

Those previous sports that will be making a return include softball and racquetball. New disciplines on the program will include drone racing, canoe marathon, breaking, women’s fistball, parkour and men’s lacrosse. Women’s lacrosse made its debut in 2017.

The World Games had been scheduled for 2021 but were rescheduled to 2022 following the postponement of the Olympic Summer Games. The World Games will be held July 7–17 and is expected to include more than 3,600 athletes from 100 countries.

“The official sports had already been ratified and announced during SportAccord 2018, but following the COVID-related postponement, we had to be sure that all venues, accommodation and service partners secured for the events in 2021 were available in 2022 as well,” said Sebastian Garvens, head of games services. “Two years ahead of The World Games 2022 Birmingham opening ceremony, I’m excited that we can announce the overall gender-balanced events program for our member federations, featuring new disciplines, extended mixed-gender competitions and innovative formats such as six-a-side lacrosse, drone racing, mixed-gender tug of war, breaking and parkour.”

Click here for a full list of sports that will competed in Birmingham.