TheWorld Firefighters Games is an international sporting event that welcomes all full-time, part-time and volunteer structuralfirefighters, aviation fire services, emergency response personnel and their direct family from all across the globe.
The games are held biennially and offer more than 50 different sports and challenges includingarchery,rugby sevens,windsurfing,poker,swimming,athletics andsoftball, with the "Toughest Firefighter Alive" being the blue riband event.
The games began in 1988 with the first ever World Firefighters Games held inAuckland, New Zealand, from 22 to 29 April 1990. This initial outing drew 1800 athletes and 1400 supporters from 17 countries. The purpose of the games was to introduce the four following concepts within the services:
The motivation behind the games was to overcome some of the problems with entering theWorld Police and Fire Games, in that the games are only open to full-time paid firefighters. As most fire services globally usevolunteer personnel the World Firefighters Games allows entrants that are full-time, part-time and volunteer, as well as the families of fire service personnel to enter.
After the first games, an attempt was made to register the name to seek profit. When the games were held inPerth in 1994, the organising committee felt so strongly about the games belonging to the firefighter that they bought the rights from the original owners and Perth has become the home of the world governing body, "World Firefighters Games WA Inc". The governing body licenses each fire department and allows use of the name and branding for the running of the event. The governing body is entirely a non-profit organization and all proceeds are donated to charity. The largest games to date were held inChungj, from 10–18 September 2018 with approximately 6,600 athletes and 20,000 spectators.[1]
The Toughest Firefighter Alive, which is specific to the World Firefighters Games, is carried out in full firefighting kit and tests competitors in a number of firefighting-specific disciplines. There are four parts, all carried out in full firefighting kit.
1. The hose run, carrying aBA set.
2. Obstacle course: competitors are required to carry various pieces of equipment whilst negotiating tunnels and walls.
3. Tower: competitors are required to handle and pitch ladders and to carry firefighting equipment up ropes.
4. Stair climb: competitors are required to climb to the top of a tower, the height of which can vary depending on the country but will normally vary from 100-200m.
| Edition | Year | City | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1990 | Auckland |  New Zealand |
| 2 | 1992 | Las Vegas |  United States |
| 3 | 1994 | Perth |  Australia |
| 4 | 1996 | Edmonton |  Canada |
| 5 | 1998 | Durban |  South Africa |
| 6 | 2000 | Mantes-La-Jolie |  France |
| 7 | 2002 | Christchurch | New Zealand |
| 8 | 2004 | Sheffield |  England |
| 9 | 2006 | Hong Kong |  Hong Kong |
| 10 | 2008 | Liverpool | England |
| 11 | 2010 | Daegu |  South Korea |
| 12 | 2012 | Sydney | Australia |
| Cancelled | 2014 | Las Vegas | United States |
| 13 | 2018 | Chungju | South Korea |
| Deferred due to Covid Pandemic | 2024 | Aalborg |  Denmark |
| 14 | 2022 | Lisbon |  Portugal |
| 15 | 2024 | Aalborg | Denmark |
| 16 | 2026 | Al-Khobar |  Saudi Arabia |
The core sports of the games arearchery,arm wrestling,badminton,basketball (3:5, 5:5),bodybuilding,ten-pin bowling,bucket brigade,cross country running,cycling,climbing,darts,eight-ball,nine-ball,golf,horseshoes,judo,karate,bowls,marathon,half marathon,poker,powerlifting,rugby sevens,sailing,skeet shooting,soccer,fastpitch softball,softball,squash,swimming,table tennis,tennis, Toughest Firefighter Alive,track and field,trap shooting,triathlon,tug of war,volleyball (2 man/ 6 man),windsurfing, andwrestling.
Host countries will vary the events depending on their national games, traditions, and culture.
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