Game

archery • billiards • boules • bowling • break dancing • canopy piloting • canoe polo • dancesport

time Athletes from all over the world

will compete at this year’s
World Games in Birmingham
drone racing • duathlon • fin swimming • fist ball • flag football • floorball • flying disc • gymnastics

handball • inline hockey • inline speed skating • jujitsu • karate • kickboxing • korf ball

BY JESSICA FENDER

Y
es, it’s one of the largest athletic events the Southeast has seen
since Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. And, true, it’s
the first opportunity American fans will have to watch a global
multisport competition in person since the pandemic struck. 
But for Alabama, the 2022 World Games in Birmingham
means even more than that, according to event CEO Nick Sellers. “This is
Alabama’s medal moment,” says Sellers. “We’re coming of age and taking our
place as an international destination.” 
From July 7 to 17, the World Games will bring thrills, pageantry, high
stakes, and jaw-dropping athleticism—not to mention 200,000 international
lacrosse • life saving • muay thai • orienteering • parkour • power lifting • racquetball • softball
visitors—to the Birmingham area in the marquee event’s first return to U.S.
soil since it began 41 years ago (the first competition took place in 1981 in
Santa Clara, California). 
A rowdy kid sibling to the Olympics, the World Games gives the newest,
fastest-growing, and most extreme sports—think Muay Thai, parachute
piloting, and canoe polo, among many others—the chance to prove
themselves on a global stage. If a sport proves popular here, it may become
an Olympic sport in the future. 
COURTESY WORLD GAMES

And Alabama has a front-row seat to all the festivities. 

“This is a chance to witness history,” says Sellers, who calls Magic City
home. “Plus, it’s just a ton of fun and a way to really feel good about Alabama,
who we are, and where we’re going. If you want to be part of that, you have
to be here.” sport climbing • squash • sumo • tug-of-war • waterski & wakeboard • wheelchair rugby • wushu

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 Hometown
Heroes
Locals get the opportunity to cheer on not only
their country but their state as well—and with a
potential redemption story, to boot.
Softball pitcher Montana Fouts led the
NCAA in strikeouts last season at the University
of Alabama. And outfielder Haylie McCleney
(pictured), who grew up in the Birmingham area,
was a 4-time All-American while playing for the
Crimson Tide. Both women return as part of the
USA Women’s Softball team.

“For me to be able to step back into

my hometown, put on a Team USA
The New “It’s a 4-D, immersive experience. They come right over
Watch remote-controlled
jersey, and play in front of my family drones screech by overhead, you,” says event CEO Nick Sellers, who’s personally
and friends, I never really thought flipping, twisting, banking, looking forward to seeing the drones go head-to-head.
I’d get another chance to do it, to be and diving through a “It’s really high energy and a ton of fun to watch.”
complex series of gates
honest,” says Haylie McCleney.
and obstacles in one of
“I’m really, really excited.” the World Games’ newest Cutting-edge sports like drone racing are a hallmark of the World
sports. Drone racing—with Games. They may not be what millennials (and up) played in high school,
McCleney and 7 of her World Games its heart-pumping pace of but they’re what today’s youths are playing.
teammates won silver less than a year ago at up to 100 miles per hour Among the competitors in Birmingham is two-time Drone Racing
the Summer Olympics, with longtime rival Japan and its uber-bright LEDs— League champ Evan Turner, who flies under the name HeadsUp. He won
taking the gold. Both countries will compete at is equal parts NASCAR and his first title between cello practices while wrapping up his senior year of
the Hoover Metropolitan Complex. sci-fi. Cameras on the drones high school. Another up-and-coming competition to debut at the World
But the softballers aren’t the only Americans feed first-person POVs Games this year is parkour, a sport where athletes vault, swing, roll,
to keep an eye on. Superstar Erin Jackson, the directly into the goggles crawl, and climb up walls and over cars in an industrial-style course set
first Black woman to win Olympic gold in speed of pilots on the ground as up in Sloss Furnaces.
skating (at the Beijing 2022 Games), is expected well as onto the big screen And when break dancing pops and locks on the Birmingham stage,
to glide into Birmingham as well. Here, she’ll be in Birmingham’s brand-new not only will it be one of the hottest tickets at the Games, it will also be a
competing on inline skates, in the sport where Protective Stadium. preview of the sport’s debut at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
her athletic career began.
And 190-pound Idaho bar owner Trant Sabo
enters the ring for a shot at the gold in the
lightweight sumo division after winning the
silver medal in the 2017 World Games in
Wroclaw, Poland.
COURTESY WORLD GAMES
COURTESY USA SOFTBALL

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2022
World Games
by the numbers
Proving Ground
It’s not just athletes competing at the World Games. Alabama’s
favorite sport—American football—will also be vying for a spot
at the Olympics over 5 days at Legion Field Stadium, albeit in a
different format than most fans are used to.
Tackle football, with its massive team rosters, has traditionally
been a hard sell for the International Olympic Committee,

30+
which limits the overall number of athletes that can compete
each cycle. But organizers hope they can use Birmingham to
athletes
3,600

prove that flag football has that ineffable mix of popularity,

competitiveness, and fit to make the big show.

sports “It’s a really important opportunity for flag

600+
football to compete on an international,
multisport platform,” says Scott Hallenbeck,
CEO of USA Football, the sport’s national
medals governing body. “It allows us to prove our
sport is worthy of the Olympics.”

11 days In flag football, teams of 5 face off on a field about half the size

41
of regular football fields. Two 20-minute halves emphasize speed,
agility, and precision—with the fast play an appealing feature for
the next generation of attention-span–challenged spectators. And
15 venues
years

no-tackling rules make it safe to play multiple games in a day, in

true tournament style.
Flag, as it’s called, is having a moment both nationally
and internationally, attracting world-class talent from other
sports. A total of 8 men’s and 8 women’s teams will compete in

since the last Birmingham, including 2 USA teams. “Flag’s popularity is already
spiking like crazy,” says Hallenbeck.
World Games in the U.S.

ADAM PINTAR/USA FOOTBALL

spectators
500,000
international visitors
20,000

When travel journalist JESSICA FENDER tried out for high school
basketball, they made her the team statistician. She may not have
been Globetrotter material back then, but you can follow her globe-
trotting adventures today at travelerbroads.com.

If Competitions will Off the field, find hundreds For a real spectacle, grab Celebrity highlights include funk legend

100+
take place all over the of local vendors, food trucks, tickets to the World Games and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bootsy Collins

You
metro area, but the and party vibes at World opening and closing as emcee, as well as performances by acts
heart of the action Games Plaza in the newly ceremonies, 2 nights of like Alabama, Tony! Toni! Toné!, and Nelly.
will be in downtown minted City Walk BHAM. entertainment featuring

Go
Birmingham, where The 10-block development a parade of athletes, Tickets are sold by event and start at
more than half of beneath the Interstate 59/20 light shows, a symphony $16.75. Free tickets to non–sold-out
the sporting venues bridge includes a roller rink, orchestra, gospel music, sporting events may be available at the
lie within a mile of pedestrian paths, green and more. door for kids 12 and under at some venues.
countries represented one another. spaces, and beer gardens. Visit twg2022.com for more information.

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