▲ The 6 Parasports events will be held in '2023 Riyadh World Combat Games.' [Sourc from World Combat Games]     ©Seok-mu Mason KWON

At the ‘2023 Riyadh World Combat Game(here-in-after referred to as 2023 Riyadh WCG),’ which is a week away, the Para Combat Sports match will be held together.

The ‘2023 Riyad WCG,’ which will be held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 19th to 30th, will also host 6 Parasports games in which disabled athletes compete in addition to the existing 16 combat sports and martial arts events.

The existing 16 sports consisted of 10 Asian Martial Arts events such as ▲Taekwondo(28-30 Oct) ▲Karate(20-21 Oct) ▲Aikido(24-25 Oct) ▲Judo(23 Oct) ▲Ju-jitsu(24-26 Oct) ▲Kendo(29-30 Oct) ▲Sumo(21-22 Oct) ▲Muaythai(28-30 Oct) ▲Wushu(21-22 Oct) ▲Sambo(20-21 Oct), and 6 Western Combat Sports events such as ▲Fencing(25-27 Oct) ▲Savate(28-30 Oct) ▲Wrestling(23-26 Oct) ▲Boxing(20-21 Oct) ▲Kickboxing(25-27 Oct) ▲Arm Wrestling(27-28 Oct).

Among them, six events such as ▲Muaythai ▲Ju-jitsu ▲Aikido ▲Sambo ▲Savate ▲Arm Wrestling, plan to operate additional Parasports matches in addition to the existing competition categories.

The direction of international sports community, led by International Olympic Committee(President Thomas Bach, IOC) is the expansion and continued interest in Parasports for the disabled. The 2023 Riyadh WCG also seem to reflect this trend as they are organized by the Sport Accord, which has a high relationship with IOC.

There are three main types of international parasports multi-games for the disabled linked to the IOC. ▲Paralympics (physical disability) ▲Special Olympics (developmental disability) ▲Deaflympics (Deaf) etc. More than 60 athletes with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and deaf will participate in the 2023 Riyadh WCG.

In particular, as the WCG is held under the leadership of Dr. Stephen Fox, who is vice president of Sports Accord and president of the AIMS, cooperation with United Through Sports (UTS), which he established to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through sports, is also expected.

The opening ceremony of the ‘2023 Riyadh WCG’ is scheduled to take place on Thursday, the 19th October.