Birmingham lands 2021 World Games

The International World Games will be held in Birmingham.

Birmingham was awarded the 2021 World Games on Thursday by the IWG Executive Committee.

A Birmingham contingent that included Mountain Brook residents Edgar Welden and David Benck was in Lausanne, Switzerland, to make its final presentation and hear the decision of the committee.

During its meetings on Wednesday the IWGA Executive Committee had made a final assessment of the bids from Birmingham; Lima, Peru; and Ufa, Russia, and evaluated the delegations’ final presentations. The IWGA Executive Board took the final decision on the host city for the 11th edition of this multi-sports event at its meeting on Thursday morning.

This announcement is subject to successful negotiation of contractual conditions, and subsequent confirmation by the IWGA‘s Annual General Meeting in April 2015. The agreement with the next host city will be signed right after the AGM. The 10th edition of The World Games will be staged in 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland. The IWGA flag will be handed over to the representatives of Birmingham during the closing ceremony in Wroclaw in July 2017.

Giving reasons for the decision in favor of Birmingham, President José Perurena mentioned the excellent bid presented by the host city.

"We are happy to showcase our sports in Birmingham in July 2021, and we are sure that we will be offered optimal conditions for our sportsmen and women there. All the bids we received were of very high quality, and it was not easy for us to reach a decision. We have to deliver nothing less than outstanding World Games. We are convinced that Birmingham will exceed these expectations,” Perurena said.

Birmingham offers all prerequisites to stage an event like The World Games, the IWGA president added. This refers not only to the required sporting venues and infrastructure. The city also meets expectations in terms of organizing skills and the support of the city administration and the National Olympic Committee.

So, after Santa Clara 1981, the inaugural edition, The World Games will return to the USA.