4 Year Wait Until the Next World Games
10 Sports like Cycle-ball and Minigolf that might be added to the World Games in 2029
Like many Olympic fans, I enjoyed watching the World Games.
The World Games are the Kim’s Video of the Olympics…like the Olympics, they bring together 100+ nations, 5,000 athletes, and 250+ events in 30+ esoteric sports, some with future Olympic aspirations and most where the casual sports fan is learning the rules.
Team USA won 28 medals (11 🏅10🥈7🥉) at the 2025 World Games; their most total medals at a non U.S. hosted World Games since 2001.
Nearly half of Team USA’s gold medals came in events that were making their World Games debut, including cheerleading and mixed team disc golf, or returning from a 44-year hiatus like men’s softball. The other half of their gold medal came from individuals or teams returning to the podium after medaling at the 2022 Birmingham World Games, like the U.S. Ultimate mixed team, which won its sixth straight World Games gold medal, or events that will be featured at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, like women’s lacrosse and softball.
The 2029 World Games will be held in Karlsruhe, Germany. It is the third time the World Games will be hosted in Germany, and Karlsruhe becomes the first city to repeat as a host city, forty years after it hosted the third edition of the World Games in 1989.
The World Games program will likely undergo some changes from China to Germany as the process for the next World Games program includes an evaluation of the 2025 World Games events, followed by the International Federations (IFs) that are members of the International World Games Association (IWGA) applying for inclusion for the 2029 World Games. An additional 20% of the World Games program is decided in consultation with the host city, the IOC, and the IPC1 which could allow some sport federations that are not members of the IWGA to be named to the program.
INDOOR CYCLING: Cycle-Ball and Artistic Cycling
These two events were on the World Games program in 1989 and have been held as UCI World Championships since 1930. Germany is dominant in these two sports, so if the host country decides to add them to the World Games program again, Germany would likely be the gold medal favorite in all four sports.
KARTING
Home to legendary race tracks Nürburgring and Hockenheimring, and the car maker BMW, Germany could be the fitting location for motorsports to be added to the World Games program. Karting was on a short list of sports for inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and motorsport has previously been an invitational sport at the World Games.
3. BOWLING
4. SUMO WRESTLING
Both sports were left off the World Games program in 2022, and both IWGA members will likely apply for reinstatement in 2029.2
At the 2005 World Games hosted in Germany, nine-pin bowling was contested because the event is more popular in Germany than ten-pin bowling.
Sumo was left off the program in 2025 because of numerous sportsmanship issues that happened at the 2022 Birmingham World Games between athletes and officials. Despite these issues, sumo wrestling, had one of the biggest crowds in Birmingham and might be a reason why it is added back to the World Games.
SOCCER-LIKE TEAM SPORT
The Germans love their football and they may want to add a variety of soccer to the World Games such as futsal, beach soccer, 7-on-7 soccer, Cerebral Palsy soccer, amputee soccer, or teqball to the World Games program for the German fans. None of these international federations (FIFA,IFCPF, WAFF or Teqball) are IWGA members, so this would need to be added by the host country, the IOC, or IPC.
NETBALL
Since Australia will host the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, they could decide to add additional sports to the program like netball3 which is popular in Australia. World Netball is an IWGA federation, and women’s netball was featured at three previous World Games (1985, 1989, 1993) as well as the Commonwealth Games so this might be an opportunity for them to be added back into the World Games.
PICKLEBALL
In June 2025, Pickleball finally merged under one international sport federation, World Pickleball Federation (WPF). They have set up headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, as they look to be the next sports federation to get IOC recognition and could possibly also become an IWGA member. Due to the popularity of the sport in Australia, pickleball could be fast-tracked for Brisbane 2032 as a pick by the host country.
BEACH WRESTLING OR ANOTHER BEACH SPORT
With beach handball being part of the World Games since 2013 and beach korfball, added to 2025 World Games, there could be additional beach sports like beach wrestling, beach tennis, or beach ultimate added to next World Games taking advantage of the beach venue. The best bet may be beach wrestling, which was added to the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, and has been rumored as a possible addition to the Olympic program to replace male-only Greco-Roman wrestling.
9. MINIGOLF or CORNHOLE
The 2025 Mingolf World Championships take place this week in Germany and minigolf was an invitational sport the last time that Karlsruhe hosted the World Games in 1989.
Minigolf is really popular in Europe and the German women are the defending world champions. Much like disc golf a mixed doubles event is held at World Championships that could make sense as an added sport and because World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF)4 is not yet recognized by the IOC or an IWGA member the invitation would need to come from the host city.
Speaking of other World Champoinships hosted in Germany, the 2024 Cornhole World Championships, which Team USA won for the third straight time, took place in Germany.
The Germans are the reigning European champions in cornhole, and there could be a push to add some more trendy precision sports. In the U.S., precision sports like cornhole, darts, and axe-throwing have been trending upwards with more coverage on ESPN taking the place of previous precision sports mainstays like bowling5 and billiards. Could the World Games follow suit?
SUP (Standup Paddleboard)
One of the biggest hold-ups for Standup Paddleboard to get into the World Games has to do with two sport federations (the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF)) that both hold SUP World Championships. ICF has been a member of the IWGA since 1999 and have staged canoe polo at the World Games since 2005 and recently featured marathon canoe and dragon boat at the last two World Games. The complication with SUP is that likely ISA would need to sponsor the event if it were added to the World Games, and despite being an IWGA member since 1993, there was never a push to add surfing to the World Games.
Sports/Events that might be off the World Games program in 2029:
Sport Climbing, which has been a part of the World Games since 2005, may elect not to participate at the 2029 World Games now that all three core events (speed, lead, boulder) have been upgraded to the Olympic program starting with the Los Angeles Games.
Orienteering could be removed from the program after the tragic death of Italian athlete Mattia Debertolis, at the 2025 World Games who collapsed and was found unconscious during the Men’s Middle Distance competition. With the death of an athlete, the World Games will thoroughly review Orienteering as a sport and the safety procedures in place before the 2029 World Games.6 If Orienteering were to be taken off the program, the World Games could turn to World Athletics and see if there was any interest in having cross-country running or mountain/trail running on the World Games program.
MotoSurf (Powerboating) and Duathlon (Triathlon) were included in the 2025 World Games even though their sport were not IWGA members. Non-IWGA sport federations are commonly removed from the World Games program from one edition to the next.
There is a chance that any events being held at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (flag football, lacrosse, squash, and softball/baseball) are upgraded to the Olympic program in 2026 when the IOC announces the initial program for 2032 Brisbane Olympics. The IOC did wait two Olympic Games (Tokyo, Paris) to upgrade surfing, sport climbing, and roller sports (skateboarding), but there is a chance that if these sports end up on the initial Brisbane Games program, they will not come back to the 2029 World Games program.
Waterskiing/Wakeboarding is one of the seven sports that have always been on the World Games program since 1981, but the 2025 World Games featured the first time that all six events were wakeboarding, and waterskiing was not included. If cost-effective, adding back at least the jumping portion of the waterski would be a net positive.
Roller Sports, part of the World Games since 1981, is now officially part of the Olympic program as well, as World Skate is the sports federation in charge of skateboarding. World Skate holds another 82 events that have biennial world championships that are not yet on the Olympic program, so roller sports will likely keep their spot in the World Games and try to feature these events like archery and gymnastics. Changes to roller skating may include getting to gender equality by adding women’s inline hockey and possibly putting forward events like vert skateboarding, an event they looked to add in LA28 with Tony Hawk’s help, or a growing sport like scootering that might have a better chance of getting added to the Olympics than inline speed skating.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The 2029 World Games in Karlsruhe, Germany, will be the 13th edition of the World Games.
A few things mentioned by Keep the Flame Alive hosts, Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown, on their latest podcast about the World Games that were very insightful
The World Games has more athletes and events than the Winter Olympics
In relative age, the 13th edition of the World Games would be equal to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Last year, I broke down in a Substack post the Four Eras of the Modern Summer Olympics, and I singled out how in this period the Olympics finally settled on a core group of sports and a more stable program after experimenting with various sports before World War II. The World Games has only seven sports7 that have been featured at every World Games, and since the end goal for sports featured in the World Games to be upgraded to the Olympics there is a constant turnover of certain popular events or sports.
The World Games, being a successful springboard for many international sports federations to participate in the Olympic program, is a great thing. In addition to sport climbing and roller sports mentioned above, badminton, beach volleyball, taekwondo, trampoline, and triathlon are now permanent parts of the Olympic program. And sports like softball, lacrosse, squash, flag football, karate, and breaking (DanceSport) have been added to the Olympics in recent years by the host cities. Sumo and kickboxing have been on the short list in recent Olympics, and I would suspect mixed gender team sports like ultimate or korfball, in addition to other martial arts like jiu-jitsu or muaythai to make additional short lists at future Olympics.
The IWGA is working on support for National Olympic Committees and National Sports Federations (for all non-Olympic sports) to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to get more support athletes in non-Olympic sports. Under a quarter of the nations that participated at the 2025 World Games including according to the World Games website, the U.SOPC has not signed this memorandum.
Most of the sports in which Team USA were successful in Chengdu 2025 had athletes that were from an Olympic Sport NGB (sport climbing, softball, flag football, lacrosse, gymnastics, etc) or non-Olympic athletes or sports that had strong sponsors like USA Ultimate (Spin Ultimate) or Jett Lambert in wakesurfing.
Matthew Nofel, world bronze medalist in field archery, qualified and did not go to the World Games along with Brady Ellison, the defending world champion and posted this on Instagram:
“The World Games, which showcases non-Olympic sports, is one of the best archery tournaments in the world. Barebow field, Olympic recurve field, and compound target are put into the global spotlight.
Sadly, I was forced to decline my invite to be on team USA. There were many reasons, foremost of which being that USA Archery scheduled the U.S. National Championships overlapping the World Games, and, there is no funding for team USA for this event.”
If successful, the World Games will ask the National Olympic Committee and the National Sports Federation to support 70+ sports federations. Currently, the USOPC supports 50+ sport federations when factoring in summer and winter sports at the Olympics and Paralympics plus the sports8 that take place only at the Pan Am Games.
Getting this support could mean the best athletes in each sport are guaranteed to head to the World Games every year. Just at this past World Games, the U.S. did not fund nearly twenty qualified athletes, like Matt Nofel, who could have contended for medals.
The World Games breaks down the 5,000 athletes and technical officials at the World Games (in comparison, the Summer Olympics aim for a 10,500 athlete quota, so the World Games has a lot of events with a much smaller field compared to the Olympics)
The preferred breakdown
4,000 athletes and technical sports from events sponsored by IWGA federations
400 athletes and technical officials from events recommdened by host city
400 athletes and technical officials from events recommended by IOC
200 athletes and techncal officials from events recommended by IPC (not on Paralympic program)
.
According to the IWGA, Bowling was left off because it did not participate in the 2022 World Games review.
Other sports could include Aussie 9s, a form of Australian Rules Football, or va’a/outrigger canoe, a sport featured at the Oceanic Games and a type of canoe used in the Paralympics.
The IOC does not yet recognize sports like Minigolf, Darts, Teqball, and Armwrestling, but they have been featured at regional quadrennial championships and invitational sports at previous World Games . Normally they are usually missing the final hurdel for recognition which inovlves global popularity (100+ nations as members)
The PBA does have a television deal with Fox Sports.
On a personal level, the World Games, like the X Games, have always featured sports that push the boundary, like skydiving (1997-2022) and freediving (2025). Still, I do think from a fan perspective, there is much more interest in a sport that is new and different and could be a future Olympic event than one that a competitor ends up unconscious underwater like freediving.
Gymnastics (Trampoline/Tumbling), Karate, Powerlifting, Roller Sports (Inline Speed Skating), Tug of War, Underwater Sports (Finswimming), Waterski/Wakeboarding (note waterski was not the program in 2025)
Sports featured at the PanAm Games and not at the Olympics include bowling, karate, racquetball, roller sports, and water ski. Note, sometimes how NGBs classify their sports do not align with the Olympics or Paralympics, so USA Skateboarding is a separate NGB from USA Roller Sports. Also, the NGBS affiliated with a sport only held at the PanAm Games will be provided significantly less funding than other NGBS.