The World Games 2017 opened with a spectacular star-studded Opening Ceremony. IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach was present as the 10th edition of the Games got underway and was joined on stage by International World Games Association President José Perurena and the Mayor of Wrocław, Rafał Dutkiewicz, with AIMS President, Stephan Fox, Vice President Panagiotis Theodoropoulos, General Secretary Gerhard Zimmermann and Council Member Karl Weiss and Robert Keller also in attendance.
Artists performing at the Ceremony, attended by around 40000 people organisers claimed, included Dawid Kwiatkowski, dubbed the “Polish Justin Bieber”, Radzimir Dębski, Kamil Bednarek and Steve Nash alongside the Turntable Orchestra.
IOC President Dr. Bach addressed over 3,000 athletes from over 100 countries, encouraging them to “give it your best and always remember to compete in the spirit of Excellence, Respect and Fair Play”. The stadium and especially the athletes gave this a standing ovation.
IWGA President Jose Perurena stated “Even if you don’t win a medal, you will have memorable experiences to look back on,” the Spaniard told them.
The World Games features 3250 athletes from 111 nations across the world, who will over the next ten days compete in 31 different sports (27 official sports and four invitational sports), including AIMS member sports, Lacrosse, Fistball, Kickboxing, Powerlifting and Ju-Jitsu, spread across the host city of Wroclaw.