The 9th edition of the World Games 2013 is now on !
The World Games 2013 are officially underway in Cali, Colombia, after yesterday’s Opening Ceremony at the Pascual Guerrero stadium in front of more than 35.000 spectators. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos opened the event in the presence of FAI President John Grubbström, IOC President Jacques Rogge and International World Games Association President Ron Froehlich.
22 FAI officials and 66 air sports athletes are gathering in Cali to get ready for the training flights starting on 30 August, ahead of the competitions which will take place from 1 to 4 August. The pond where the canopy piloting parachutists will swoop down is now in place, as well as the paragliding accuracy landing pad and the winch that will lift the pilots up in the air, and the World Games organisers and volunteers are putting the finishing touch to the competitions areas at the Marco Fidel Suarez Air Force Base.
2 aeromodellers will also be present at the Games to showcase their sport from 29 July for 5 days in between ju-jitsu and wushu events, as aeroMusicals has been selected to be part of the programme of the Games as an invitational sport.
The figures reported by the World Games organising committee are impressive: in total, some 4500 athletes and officials coming from 101 countries will participate in competitions in 31 sports, of these 26 official and 5 invitational sports in 25 venues across the city of Cali.
The media exposure of the Games will be wide with more than 700 journalists from 33 countries covering the sports competitions as they progress. More than 22 TV stations from 5 continents will be broadcasting competitions of The World Games.
About Airsports at The World Games
The World Games are organised and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA), under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 2013 edition takes place in Cali, Colombia, over a period of 11 days from July 25 to August 4 2013. 32 official sports feature in the programme, including Parachuting Canopy Piloting and Paragliding Accuracy, while AeroMusicals (Aeromodelling) is present as a demonstration sport. The Parachuting and Paragliding competitions run concurrently on the same site, for maximum spectator interest, from 1 to 4 August 2013. Some 65 competitors (36 for parachuting and 29 for paragliding) gained entry to the Games.
