The WFDF 2022 World Overall Flying Disc Championships, held from Aug 1-6, 2022 in San Diego, California, featured 84 athletes from from countries, competing in seven events to determine the Overall winner. Both divisions had a first-time winner, with Americans Cody Kirkland and Didi Elsner winning the Open and Women’s divisions, respectively. The competition was held with Field Events at Robb Field, Disc Golf at Morley Field Disc Golf Course, and the Finals at Ski Beach.
Of special note was that Amy Schiller, from the USA, broke three WFDF World Records, for MTA, TRC, and SCF for Women Over 55 with a 7.78 second MTA, a 23 metre TRC, and an SCF score of 65.79. Amy currently holds the Open Women’s MTA world record, which she set in 1991 with a throw and catch of 11.81 seconds. Congratulations to Amy on her amazing achievement!
“The Overall Championship is a classic Flying Disc competition, testing all aspects of an athlete’s skills with a frisbee and popularized with the Rose Bowl events in the mid-1970s,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “We’d like to thank Rick LeBeau and his team for running this event, which was originally scheduled for 2021 and had to be pushed back due to the pandemic.”
“It was incredible to have the frisbee family back together after more than three years away as WOC 2019 was the latest event,” said WFDF Overall Chair Rob McLeod. “We’ve been trying to plan this event for the past three summers and I’m so grateful that Rick was able to bring us all together. The venues for the field events were top notch and it was great to have a strong contingent from Sweden, who has one of the most active and vibrant frisbee communities in the world. We are excited for the future and the opportunity to work with more players and countries to help get more Overall events going, so players of all ages, abilities, and skill levels have the chance to see what’s possible with the sport of flying disc.”
Complete medal results from the Open and Women divisions follow:
Overall
Open
1. Cody Kirkland
2. Chris Horn
3. Conrad Damon
Women
1. Didi Elsner
2. Amy Schiller
3. Frida Högberg
Accuracy
Open
1. Chris Horn
2. Robert McLeod
3. Mike Boisvert
3. Conrad Damon
Women
1. Anni Kreml
2. Didi Elsner
3. Emily Costanzo
Disc Golf
Open
1. Jacob Sherman
2. Cody Kirkland
3. Robert McLeod
Women
1. Anni Kreml
2. Emily Costanzo
3. Didi Elsner
Discathon
Open
1. Cody Kirkland
2. Jordan Huston
3. Spencer Herrick
Women
1. Frida Högberg
2. Amy Schiller
3. Lori Daniels
Distance
Open
1. Edvin Almqvist
2. Cody Kirkland
3. Chris Horn
Women
1. Emily Costanzo
2. Amy Schiller
3. Anni Kreml
Double Disc Court (DDC)
Open
1. THarvey Brandt/Cody Kirkland
2. Arthur Coddington/Conrad Damon
3. (tie) Stefan Karlsson/Thomas Palmer
3.(tie) Sam Kaye/Chris Horn
Women
1. Frida Högberg / Didi Elsner
2. Bethany Sanchez/Amy Schiller
3. Terri Carver/Lori Daniels
Freestyle
Open
1. Pavel Baranyk / James Wiseman
2. Ryan Young / Daniel O’Neill
3. Michael Galloupe / Dave Schiller
Women
1. Lisa Hunrichs / Bethany Sanchez
2. Marie Geare / Char Powell
3. Lori Daniels / Amy Schiller
Self-Caught Flight
Open
1. Robert McLeod
2. Edvin Almqvist
3. Sam Kaye
Women
1. Didi Elsner
2. Frida Högberg
3. Amy Schiller
For all of the results, including specific age-protected divisions, visit https://overalldisc.com/tournament.html?id=149.
What is the Overall Flying Disc Competition?
An Overall competition is similar to the heptathlon in track and field. The Overall combines seven (7) disciplines — some individual and some partner events — and tests the players’ skills and abilities across the spectrum of disciplines. The player who scores the highest combined point total for his or her final ranking in each discipline is the Overall champion.
A full-format Overall competition (as this was) includes:
1. Accuracy
2. Discathon
3. Disc Golf
4. Distance
5. Double Disc Court
6. Freestyle
7. Self-Caught Flight
Double Disc Court and Freestyle are played in pairs; Freestyle can also be a co-op, or three-person, competition.
These disciplines are critical to an Overall competition because they gauge a player’s skill and ability to play cooperatively, an intrinsic element of most disc sports. The full-format Overall competition is usually staged over a week, testing an athlete’s stamina, endurance and concentration, as well as their proficiency across the full range of disc skills.