The 1985 World Games, commonly known as London 1985, were the second edition of the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Three main venues were used, the main one being the

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...

. The opening ceremony was held at the Wembley Conference Centre. The master of ceremonies was television commentator

Ron Pickering Ronald James Pickering (4 May 1930 – 13 February 1991) was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator. Biography Pickering was born in Hackney. His father was a sign fixer. He became head boy at West Ham Secondary School (later to become ...

. Competitors were addressed by World Games Association President Dr Un Yong Kim, who told competitors, "the World Games is an innovation that deserves a warm welcome." Games Patron Ryoichi Sasakawa underwrote the financial shortfall to enable the Games to take place. British Olympic Association Chairman Charles Palmer opened the Games on behalf of the British sports community. The song "World Game" by John Denver was adopted as the theme for the Games. Sports included field archery, taekwondo, karate, sambo, powerlifting, finswimming, roller sports, casting, korfball, water skiing, speedway, fistball, softball and netball. The ground team at Crystal Palace was headed by former Nottingham Forest player

Roy Dwight Royston Edward Dwight (9 January 1933 – 9 April 2002) was an English footballer. He scored the opening goal in the 1959 FA Cup Final for Nottingham Forest. Career Fulham Although a winger, he was renowned for his shooting ability. Dwight sco ...

with assistance from

Tosh Chamberlain Trevor "Tosh" Chamberlain (11 July 1934 – 10 January 2021) was an English professional association football, footballer. He played at outside left. Chamberlain began his career as a youth player with Middlesex and London, and gained youth in ...

. Television coverage was produced by Cheerleader productions. Commentators included Simon Reed,

Martin Tyler Martin Tyler (born 14 September 1945) is an English football commentator. He has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports since 1990, covering the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, as well as other domestic and international competition ...

Gerald Sinstadt Gerald Morris Sinstadt (19 February 1930 – 10 November 2021) was an English sports commentator, broadcaster and newspaper columnist, usually on football. Early life Born in Folkestone, Kent, Sinstadt attended The Harvey Grammar School.https:// ...

and Dave Lanning.

Titles

134 titles were awarded in 22 sports (not including two invitational sports). As Invitational sport Venues included

Wembley Conference Centre Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre in Wembley Park, London, England, that existed from 1977 to 2006, located next to Wembley Arena. History In the later 1970s, modern multi-purpose halls began opening in British towns and cities. ...

, Princes Club (

Bedfont Bedfont is a suburb in the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west of Charing Cross. Originally a distinct village, Bedfont has a large central conservation area around Bedfont Green. The majority of the housing was built at a time of ...

), Copthall Stadium.

Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events, and until 2005 hosted motorc ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, David Lloyd Club,

Tolmers Scout Camp Scouting in East of England is about Scouting in the official region of East of England. It is largely represented by The Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the Baden-Powell Scouts' Associati ...

and

Stevenage Bowling Center Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Steven ...

Medal table

The medal tally during the second

is as follows.

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

finished at the top of the medal standings. Two bronze medals were awarded in fistball and in each karate-kumite (9) and taekwondo (8) event.

References

Channel Four broadcast of the Opening Ceremony.

External links

Official Website of the IWGA

at Sports123 (by

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) {{EventsAt1985WorldGames

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

International sports competitions in London 1985 in English sport Multi-sport events in the United Kingdom