The World Games 2022 – 100 Days to Go

29 Mar. 2022

The World Games 2022 – 100 Days to Go

Tuesday 29 March marks just 100 days to go until The World Games Birmingham 2022 in the United States of America gets underway.
 
The 11th edition of the multi-sport event will take place from 7 to 17 July, with IOC President Thomas Bach set to be present at the Opening Ceremony at the Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.

3,600 athletes will be competing in 34 sports, including beach handball, and 223 medal events. 108 nations have already confirmed their participation, five more than at The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland and a games record. Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been excluded from participating.

“The anticipation is growing amongst everyone and it is starting to thrill because we are expecting nothing less than an outstanding Games,” said Joachim Gossow, CEO of the International World Games Association.

“A lot has already been done. Now we have to put the individual pieces of the puzzle together to form a coherent overall picture. This requires a lot of cooperation and communication amongst each other. The next three months will show that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Putting this into practice always poses its own challenge in the preparation.”

Last month, the medals were revealed at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, while the media accreditation process has just opened. 

Beach Handball at The World Games

Beach handball has been part of the World Games since it was introduced as a demonstration/invitational sport back in Japan in 2001. It followed in Germany (2005) and Chinese Taipei (2009), before becoming a full sport at the 2013 edition in Colombia. Poland was next in 2017, with the USA now scheduled for 2022.

Eight (8) men’s and eight (8) women’s teams qualify for the beach handball competitions of The World Games 2022 (TWG 2022) with three (3) teams in the women’s and four (4) teams in the men’s competition already through. Continental qualification is currently underway with the final teams known by the end of April.

The below teams have already qualified for The World Games Birmingham 2022.

Women’s Competition
1. Host: United States of America 
2. World champions: Greece – Winners of the 2018 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship
3. Europe: Germany – Winners of the Women’s EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021

Men’s Competition
1. Host: United States of America 
2. World champions: Brazil – Winners of the 2018 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship
3. Asia: Islamic Republic of Iran – Winners of the 2022 AHF Asian Men’s Beach Handball Championship
4. Europe: Denmark – Winners of the Men’s EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021

In total, 60 beach handball matches will be played at TWG 2022, 30 in each competition per gender, with the final daily match schedule in the process of being confirmed due to television coverage.
 
Beach handball at TWG 2022 will take place in one of the most spectacular venues ever to host the sport, the National Historic Landmark of ‘Sloss Furnaces’ in Birmingham and tickets are now on sale via the official website.
 
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