GIVEN A SPORTING CHANCE

Diversity shines at the 2025 World Games, as regional, niche sports have found new fans, fresh talent and a high-profile stage in Chengdu.

The world's largest international multisport gala to feature mainly non-Olympic events has shed new light on disciplines once on the periphery of the global sporting mainstream, bringing more exposure to trending urban exercises and some of the "newcomers" on the LA28 Olympic program.

Flag football, a non-contact variant of American football, in which defenders stop plays by pulling a flag attached to their opponent's waist, turned heads in Chengdu on Thursday with an eight-nation women's tournament grabbing international attention ahead of its Olympic debut in Los Angeles.

New Olympic sports such as lacrosse and squash have also made a strong impression. Five of the 12-athlete Chinese women's lacrosse squad hail from Chengdu University, drawing quite an enthusiastic fan following from the local community.

After watching her sport contested against blue-glass walls employing low-cost, recyclable materials, World Squash Federation president Zena Wooldridge was left intrigued. "The venue is superb, with high-quality courts. Players are going home with wonderful memories of Chengdu," she said.

Some sports with Chinese origin are also making their presence felt among the global audience. Modern dragon boat racing, now featuring lightweight craft and mixed-gender crews, drew strong competition.

Despite China's strong heritage in the sport, Indonesia topped the podium, claiming three titles, while Ukraine and Thailand also struck gold, underscoring the sport's widening global reach.

Martial arts reinforced its Olympic ambitions. "The level is incredibly close now — it's no longer one dominant force, but many flourishing together," noted International Wushu Federation secretary-general Zhang Yuping. With its inclusion in the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics, wushu's international promotion marked a major milestone, while the Chengdu showcase certainly has given it a further push.

The trend extends to water sports, where Chinese wake surfer Zhuang Tiancai's silver-medal finish in the men's skim final on Aug 10 highlighted the trending outdoor sport's booming popularity. His Guangdong surfing club, founded in 2022, now has more than 100 members.

"Three years ago, there were hardly any surfing clubs in Guangdong," Zhuang said. "Now there are more than a dozen. My partners and I are planning to open another branch."

Official figures show China now has more than 300 water-surfing clubs with hundreds of thousands of participants.

International World Games Association president Jose Perurena Lopez stressed the Games' role as a gateway: "We represent sports recognized by the IOC, but not yet in the Olympics. Some may graduate to the Olympics program."

"The mentality of younger people has changed. In my time, all the focus was on the Olympic disciplines; now, the new generation embraces diverse sports," he said.