Online voting until January 31 to determine the “Best of the Best”
Is The World Games 2022 history? No, not yet. The International World Games Association (IWGA) has just announced the nominees for its 2022 Athlete and Team of the Year. All nominees – 23 athletes and 12 teams entered by their respective IFs – attended the 11th sporting event in Birmingham, USA last summer. Voting will begin on January 10 on the IWGA website www.theworldgames.org.
Fans and friends of The World Games can support their favorite athlete and team every day from January 10 for a whole month. Casting your vote gives the “best of the best” a chance to win another important title. This year, for the first time, two titles are at stake: Athlete of the Year and Team of the Year.
Learn more about the players and teams in the title race on the IWGA website. Here, all candidates are introduced with a short report on their achievements and a video.
A little about the rules: The first round of voting will start on January 10th and end on January 22nd and will determine the finalists: 10 athletes and 7 teams with the most votes will go to the final round. This round lasts until January 31, when the winners will be announced. Winners will receive trophies and prizes.
Voting will be promoted across all The World Games social media platforms. This means that supporters of the candidate will be able to more easily share their enthusiasm on social media, encourage other fans to cheer for the athlete or team.
World Games fans can choose their favorite in two clicks. Each voting participant may vote for a candidate – Player, Team of the Year or both – once every 24 hours on The World Games website. Votes should be cast for two candidates each time. The first-choice candidate shall be given two votes and the second-choice candidate one vote.
Fans can vote separately for both Sportsman of the Year and Team of the Year. The current ranking and number of votes cast for each candidate will be displayed on the IWGA voting page as the voting period ends.
This is the ninth time that the IWGA has organized a vote for Athlete of the Year. “It’s kind of a tradition to kick off the new year with a celebration of the achievements of our outstanding athletes. But this time it’s really special. The vote brings back great memories from our event in Birmingham, USA, where our athletes experienced southern hospitality and celebrated the reunion of The World Games family after the pandemic. Voting will give The World Games athletes a big stage. So the Games are not history at all yet,” commented IWGA President José Perurena.
Past winners:
2013: Marcel Hassemeier (GER), Saving Lives
2014: Adam Ondra (CZE), Sport Climbing
2015: Mwai Kumwenda (MAW), Volleyball
2016: Sofia Olofsson (SWE), Muay Thai
2017: Reza Alipourzenashandifar (IRI), Sport Climbing
2018: Marina Chernova & Georgii Pataraia (RUS), Gymnastics
2019: Rani Rampal (India), Hockey
2022 PR Sreesjeh (India), Hockey
TWG 2020 Greatest Athlete of All Time:
Nicole David (MAS), Squash
World games is a multi-sport event organized every four years by the International World Games Association, organized with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The 2022 World Games took place in Birmingham, Alabama, USA from July 7-17, 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and 100 countries participated in the games. The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu, CHN in 2025.
