Birmingham, Alabama to host World Games in 2021

Header picture courtesy of IWGA.

The United States city of Birmingham, in the state of Alabama was awarded the rights to host the 2021 World Games in Lausanne on Thursday 22 January 2015.

Its opponents in bidding for the event were Ufa, Russia and Lima, Peru.

Before announcing the decision, the President of the International World Games Association Jose Perurena Lopez thanked all three city’s efforts and commitment in developing and submitting their bids.

The Birmingham delegation praised the decision as a significant date in the history of the city and state, and thanked the International World Games Association for awarding its city such a significant honour.

“Birmingham’s bid was excellent,” said World Archery President Prof Dr Ugur ERdener.

“The USA is a country that has always found international success in the World Games archery disciplines. USA compound athletes won gold and silver at the Archery World Cup Final this year.”

Archery has been on the World Games sports programme since the second edition in 1985. The only World Games archery was not featured in, the 1981 event, was held in the United States in Santa Clara.

“Not only is World Archery pleased to take compound archery to the USA with the International World Games Association, but I am certain that USA Archery, and its community, will relish the chance to show itself to the world,” added Prof Dr Erdener.

Until 2013, World Games medals were awarded in compound, recurve and barebow categories in the discipline of field archery. At the most recent World Games in Cali, the event was split as compound target archery was introduced.

Recurve and barebow archers continued to contest their podiums on the field archery course, while compound athletes competed for individual and mixed team medals in front of a crowd of over 3,500 people.

Both disciplines are on the programme for the Wroclaw 2017 World Games, the next edition of a multisport event that is steadily growing in both exposure and importance.

Olympic Agenda 2020, the recommendations from which were recently adopted by the International Olympic Committee, singled out the International World Games Association for closer cooperation in the future.