The Disc Golf Championships at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China concluded Sunday 10 August as the USA mixed doubles pair of Missy Gannon and Gannon Buhr defeated Finnish team Eveliina Salonen and Nestori Tukhanen in match-play format. In the bronze medal match-up, the Latvian team of Elizabete Peksena and Rainers Balodis prevailed over Kristin and Silver Lätt of Estonia in a come from behind victory. The competition took place over three days in the beautiful Guixi Ecological Park and featured 32 athletes from 16 nations.
The Gold Medal match saw the USA team jump out to a 4-hole lead after four holes and maintain their dominance to win 5 and 3 against Finland. All the drama was saved for the Bronze medal showdown between Baltic neighbors Estonia and Latvia. Trailing the favored Estonian pair by two holes with three to play, Peksena of Latvia kept their chances alive by making a stunning 90-foot putt for par on hole 16. Her teammate then parked holes 17 and 18 to send the match into a sudden-death playoff. On the third playoff hole, Peksana calmly sealed the victory with a putt, capping off the greatest victory in Latvian disc golf history. As the 13th seed, Latvia had narrowly lost to Finland in group play and the semifinals and had knocked off the 3rd seed Canada in the quarterfinals.
Norway beat Czechia for fifth place, while the Czech team was the only one to hold the vaunted USA squad to a draw. The host nation of China played admirably but failed to win a match. However, the impact on the growth of the sport in China may be huge, with an estimated 15 million Chinese watching the competition live on national TV.
“This World Games Disc Golf competition was an incredible success,” said Craig Sheather, WFDF Disc Golf Committee Chair. “The high-level play, the dramatic moments, and the passionate crowds made this a truly memorable event for our sport. We are already looking forward to building on this momentum for the future.”
Many of the best disc golfers in the world participated in the event. Three PDGA Pro World Champions – including newly crowned Gannon Buhr – competed in the final matches for the hardware. And, as an indicator of the overall depth of the disc golf field, the 32 athletes representing 16 nations at the TWG hold more than 1,350 PDGA Tour victories.
The host megacity of Chengdu in Sichuan province, with a population of 21 million, is renowned for its panda bear breeding and conservation center, which provided an incredible backdrop for the competition. The course, designed by World Disc Golf Hall of Fame Member Charlie Mead and managed by Competition Manager Craig Sheather, was technically challenging. An enthusiastic group of 250 Chinese university students supported the event and hosted VIPs.
“We are honored that disc golf was once again featured on the global stage of The World Games,” said WFDF President Robert ‘Nob’ Rauch. “The level of competition was outstanding, the spirit displayed by all the athletes was a testament to the values of flying disc sports, and the spectator gallery was large and enthusiastic despite the torrential downpour during the medal matches. We are proud of our partnership with the PDGA and are excited to continue working with them to grow the sport worldwide. We are enthusiastic about the prospects for disc golf’s inclusion at The World Games 2029 in Karlsruhe, Germany.”
Flying Disc first debuted at the TWG 1989 in Karlsruhe as a demonstration sport, and has been a medal sport since 2001. The disciplines of Disc Golf and Ultimate were both featured on the program in that year, but then Disc Golf was not included again until this year. After a one day transition, the five day mixed gender Ultimate championship with eight countries begins on the 12th and finishes with the medal games on Saturday the 16th. The 12th edition of the World Games continues through August 17, featuring 4,000 world-class athletes from over 100 countries competing in 253 medal events in 34 sports and 59 disciplines. The World Games is a multi-sport event for sports and disciplines that are not in the program of the Olympic Games, and is considered the second most important global multi-sport event after the Olympics.
The World Games 2025, Chengdu, Final Disc Golf Mixed Pairs Standings
Gold: USA Missy Gannon and Gannon Buhr
Silver: Finland Eveliina Salonen and Nestori Tukhanen
Bronze: Latvia Elizabete Peksena and Rainers Balodis
4th: Estonia Silver Lätt & Kristin Lätt
5th: Norway Øyvind Jarnes & Anniken Steen
6th: Czechia Petr Striegler & Kristýna Jurčíková
7th: Canada Thomas Gilbert & Sofia Donnecke
8th: Great Britain Ben Holding & Rachel Turton
9th: France Dorian Legendre & Maria Buitrago Acevedo
10th: Japan Manabu Kajiyama & Rika Tsukamoto
11th: Slovakia Tomáš Mozola & Katarína Boďová
12th: Lithuania Gabrielius Gricius & Mireta Jurgelevičiūtė
13th: Austria Stanislaus Amann & Raphaela Narath
14th: Australia Blake Houston & Cassie Sweetten
15th: Germany Timo Hartmann & Wiebke Jahn
16th: China Chenfei Zhao & Yanwen Ma
For full results, visit The World Games Info System at https://www.theworldgames.org/editions/Chengdu-CHN-2025-14/infosystem.
Broadcast recordings can be found at https://live.theworldgames.org/sports/flying-disc.
About WFDF: The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is the international sports federation responsible for world governance of flying disc (frisbee) sports, including Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Disc Golf, Freestyle, Guts, and Individual Events. Formed in 1985, WFDF is a federation of 122 member associations, which represent flying disc sports and their athletes in more than 118 countries. WFDF is an International Federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and the International University Sports Federation (FISU), a member of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), the International World Games Association (IWGA), the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), and the Association for the International Sport for All (TAFISA). WFDF is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code and is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Colorado, USA.
For more information contact:
Karina Woldt
WFDF Managing Director Events & Operations (MDEO)
World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)
Mobile: +49 151 4045 6046
email: [email protected]