The World Firefighter Games is an international sporting event that welcomes all full-time, part-time and volunteer structural firefighters and bush firefighters, and aviation fire services and military emergency response personnel and their immediate direct family from all across the globe. The games are held biennially in different countries and offer more than 50 different sports and challenges including archery, rugby sevens,

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, poker, swimming, athletics and softball, with the "Toughest FireFighter Alive" being the blue riband event.

Purpose

The games began in 1988 with the first ever World Firefighters Games held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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: # To promote health and fitness # To provide a forum for information exchange between fire services # To foster comradeship amongst firefighters # To encourage family participation The motivation behind the games was to overcome some of the problems with entering the

World Police and Fire Games The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennial athletic event, open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The WPFG Federation is an arm of the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), ...

, in that the games are only open to full-time paid firefighters. As most fire services globally use mostly volunteer 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. But when the games were held in Perth, Western Australia 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 now 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 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, USA from 16–22 May 1992 with approximately 4,000 athletes and 14,000 supporters and spectators. LA 2014 was cancelled by the "proprietor" of the games sometime during the week of 19 May 2014. The 2020 games in Aalborg were postponed to May 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toughest FireFighter Alive

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 a BA 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. At the 2010 games competitors were required to climb Daegu Tower which is 202m high with 83 stories.

Games

* 1990.

22 to 29 April - 1,800 Athletes, 17 Countries, 34 Events. Winners:

* 1992.

Las Vegas, USA The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is ...

16 to 22 May - 4,000 Athletes, 22 Countries, 45 Events. Winners: USA * 1994.

Perth, Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

20 to 26 March - 2,000 Athletes, 21 Countries, 48 Events. Winners: Australia * 1996.

Edmonton, Canada Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

28 July to 3 August, 2,300 Athletes, 25 Countries, 54 Events. Winners: Canada * 1998.

Durban, South Africa Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

17 to 23 May 1,800 Athletes, 26 Countries, 55 Events. Winners: South Africa * 2000. Mantes-La-Jolie, France 6 to 13 July, 4,000 Athletes, 56 Countries, 61 Events. Winners: France * 2002.

Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

26 October to 2 November 1,500 Athletes, 30 Countries, 58 Events. Winners:

New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service ( mi, Whakaratonga Iwi, "Service to the People"; also known as the NZFS) was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new ...

* 2004.

Sheffield, England Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire an ...

28 August to 4 September, 2,500 Athletes, 40 Countries, 59 Events. Winners:

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

* 2006.

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

18 to 25 February, 3,000 Athletes, 37 Countries, 59 Events. Winners: China * 2008.

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

25 August to 3 September, 3,000 Athletes, 46 Countries, 74 Events. Winners:

* 2010. Daegu, Korea from 21–29 August 5230 participants, 46 Countries, 75 Events. Winners Korean Fire Service * 2012. Sydney, Australia 19–28 October 1500 Athletes, 30 Countries, 60 Events. Winners: Australia ''(the Sydney 2012 World Firefighters Games were conducted by WFG Events Pty Ltd under Licence from World Firefighters Games WA Inc)'' * 2018. Chungju, South Korea, 10–17 September, 2018. * 2020. Aalborg,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, Postponed from 22-29 August, 2020 to 16-22 May, 2021, Cancelled.

Results

* http://worldfirefightersgames.com/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073402/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/1990-games/1990-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073345/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/1992-games/1992-results - Incomplete * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073458/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/1994-games/1994-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073317/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/1996-games/1996-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073257/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/1998-games/1998-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073259/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2000-games/2000-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073300/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2002-games/2002-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073312/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2004-games/2004-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073308/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2006-games/2006-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073136/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2008-games/2008-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020071916/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2010-games/2010-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020071927/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2012-games/2012-results * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020074223/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2014-games - Cancelled * https://web.archive.org/web/20191020073607/http://worldfirefightersgames.com/index.php/game-stats/previous-games/2018-games - Have Not Medal Table * https://web.archive.org/web/20190618182228/http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/au-en/brd/m_3304/view.do?seq=756602&srchFr=&%3BsrchTo=&%3BsrchWord=&%3BsrchTp=&%3Bmulti_itm_seq=0&%3Bitm_seq_1=0&%3Bitm_seq_2=0&%3Bcompany_cd=&%3Bcompany_nm=&page=5 - The 13th World Firefighters Games Chungju, 2018 * https://web.archive.org/web/20180814195906/http://wfg2018.chungbuk.go.kr/eng/index.php * https://web.archive.org/web/20180525223525/http://wfg2018.chungbuk.go.kr/eng/sub.php?code=02_info04 * https://web.archive.org/web/20181108191339/http://wfg2018.chungbuk.go.kr/eng/sub.php?code=02_info030101 * https://web.archive.org/web/20181022152728/http://wfg2018s.chungbuk.go.kr/event/sub.php?menukey=519 - 2018 Nations Medal Table * https://web.archive.org/web/20181108192005/http://wfg2018s.chungbuk.go.kr/event/sub.php?menukey=519&mod=list2 - 2018 Clubs Medal Table * https://web.archive.org/web/20181108191942/http://wfg2018s.chungbuk.go.kr/event/sub.php?menukey=519&mod=list3 - 2018 Sports Medal Table

Events

The core sports of the games are archery,

arm wrestling Arm wrestling (also spelled armwrestling) is a sport with two opponents who face each other with their bent elbows placed on a table and hands firmly gripped, who then attempt to force the opponent's hand down to the table top ("pin" them). The s ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

(3:5, 5:5),

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

ten-pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first rol ...

bucket brigade A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next. The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

, eight-ball, nine-ball,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

horseshoes Horseshoe is a shoe for horses and by analogy is applied to many things with a similar shape. Horseshoes (game), a tossing game played with a horseshoe Horseshoe(s) or Horse Shoe(s) may also refer to: Places * Horseshoe Valley (disambiguation) ...

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, karate, bowls, marathon,

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

, poker,

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effo ...

, rugby sevens,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

, skeet shooting, soccer,

fastpitch softball Fastpitch softball, also known as fastpitch or fastball, is a form of softball played by both women and men. While the teams are most often segregated by sex, coed fast-pitch leagues also exist. Fast pitch is considered the most competitive for ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, Toughest Firefighter Alive,

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

trap shooting Trap shooting, or trapshooting in North America, is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, which is shooting shotguns at clay targets. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays. They are disting ...

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

tug of war Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

(2 man/ 6 man),

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Host countries will vary the events depending on their national games, traditions, and culture.

References

External links

World Firefighters Games Governing Body Web Page {{Firefighting Firefighting competitions Multi-sport events