World Games 2009

Taiwan

As noted by IWGA President Ron Froehlich the 2009 World Games were: “The best World Games ever!” The city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan hosted the 8th World Games from July 16th through the 26th. More than 5000 participants from 103 different countries were present and 186 finals in 31 different sports were held. The World Games are not well known here in the United States as they are not televised in the same manner as some of the other international events such as the Olympic Games. These games are however part of the Olympic movement, using the 5 rings, and consist of sports not yet competing in the Olympic Games—such as racquetball, karate, ultimate Frisbee, softball, wushu, water skiing, life saving, rugby sevens, sumo wrestling, archery, rhythmic gymnastics, body building, ballroom dancing, various ball sports and many others.

Approximately 280,000 spectators attended the opening and closing ceremonies and the various sporting competitions. At The-World-Games-Plaza in Kaohsiung, more than 1.2 million people celebrated the 2009 games. Sports Chiropractic played a major role in these games as International Federation of Sports Chiropractic (FICS) was commissioned to provide highly qualified sports chiropractors for the duration of the competition. There were 28 Doctors of Chiropractic, all of whom had had extensive post-doctoral training in Sports Chiropractic, from 13 different countries that were selected who rendered services to the athletes and volunteers at these games. As a result, more than 1000 athletes were examined and received treatment by these doctors. The preliminary reports showed that approximately 80% of those treated indicated a reduction in their pain, and 99% returned to competition!

The next World Games will be in 2013 and it will be hosted by the city of Cali in the beautiful country of Colombia.