Team USA again brought home the gold from The World Games, narrowly beating out Australia 13-11 in the Finals to take home the top prize from Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Colombia earned the bronze medal after defeating darkhorse Germany in the third place matchup. This is the USA’s fifth consecutive gold medal at The World Games, and the third silver for Australia since 2005.
For the first time, a Spirit Award winner was declared by WFDF at The World Games, with Great Britain taking home the coveted honor.
“It was really gratifying to see such exciting action on the field and the remarkable parity among the teams,” stated Robert “Nob” Rauch. “Over the 5 days of competition, there were only four out of the 21 games played where the margin of victory exceeded three points. And, of course, we want to thank both the Birmingham Organizing Committee and IWGA for all their work and for giving us the opportunity to showcase our sport on the world stage.”
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 days. The World Games are governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA), under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In Birmingham, the 11th edition of The World Games was officially declared closed on Sunday the 17th of July with a closing ceremony featuring a number of musical acts including Lionel Ritchie. Flying Disc has been a medal sport in The World Games since 2001.
During the activities in Birmingham, IOC President Thomas Bach visited the Flying Disc stadium and met with WFDF President Nob Rauch and the Flying Disc athletes from several of the teams. On Saturday, José Perurena, the President of the IWGA, took part in the closing ceremony for Flying Disc and handed out medals to the athletes. Over the course of the week WFDF officials also met twice with the delegation from China representing TWG Chengdu2025.
WFDF partnered with the Olympic Channel for live video coverage of The World Games Flying Disc competition and the streams are still available to watch on the Olympics replays website. Full results from The World Games are available on the WFDF website.