The Kansai region of Japan will be hosting the 2021 World Masters Games. Which is one of the largest events of its kind in the world, and you may never have heard of it.
Unlike the Olympic Games, you will find an extremely large array of interesting events, and you may even qualify to participate yourself. Luckily enough, registration is still open if after reading this article you decide you could be an athlete in these games.
So, take the opportunity to learn more about the World Masters Games Kansai 2021 below.
1. What are the World Masters Games?
The World Masters Games are a multi-sport Olympic-style event hosted in a different city every four years. Competitors from every country are invited to compete. The event is organized by the International Masters Games Association and for the upcoming event, by the local Kansai Masters Games committee.
2. When are the next World Masters Games?
The World Masters Games are generally scheduled to happen one year after the Olympics. The next games will be commencing on May 13th, 2022, and completing 17 days later on May 29th, 2022.
Due to a global pandemic, the 2021 World Masters Games were postponed, so they are now happening in 2022 instead. However, the summer Olympic Games were also postponed from 2020 to 2021, so the World Masters Games are still happening one year later.
3. What country hosts the World Masters Games?
Every four years a different location is selected to host the World Masters Games. The next games will be hosted in the Kansai region of Japan. This is the first time the World Masters Games will be hosted in Asia.
Over 80 different venues in the Kansai region will host the various sports being competed in.
Japan was also the host of the summer Olympic Games; this is not usual for the same country to host both the Olympics and World Masters. The World Masters will not reuse any Olympic venues.
4. What sports are competed in during the World Masters Games?
Each World Masters Games has a different set of sports and disciplines within those sports. For the Kansai games, there will be 35 sports with 59 disciplines.
While the World Masters are Olympic style, there is a much broader range of sports included.
A general overview of the sports included is Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Canoeing, Cycling, Dance Sports, Football, Flying Disc, Gateball, Golf, Handball, Field Hockey, Martial Arts, Surf Lifesaving, Orienteering, Rowing, Rugby, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Tennis including Soft and Table, Squash, Swimming events, Tenpin Bowling, Triathlon, Tug of War, Volleyball, Weightlifting.
So you can see there are some traditional sporting events as well as some unexpected inclusions.
5. When did the World Masters Games start?
The first World Masters Games were held in 1985 in Toronto, Canada. There were 8,305 competitors from 61 countries competing in 22 different sports.
6. How do you qualify to compete in the World Masters Games?
To compete in the Kansai World Masters Games, you need to be over 30 years old and a member of your sports governing body. You can then apply to compete with the organizing website.
There are no qualifying events and no upper age limits, so the games are open to middle to senior-aged people from anywhere in the world.
7. Does the Kansai World Masters Games have a mascot?
Just like the Olympics, the World Masters Games has a new mascot every year. For the Kansai 2021 games, the mascot is Sufula. The name is an abbreviation of “Sport For Life.”
Sufula is described as a pink fairy that loves sports and was based on the symbol of the Kansai World Masters Games, the cherry blossom. However, Sufula looks very much like a pink dog, rather than what you would expect a fairy to look like.
8. Do you represent your country at the World Masters Games?
As a competitor, you do not officially represent a country, and you are competing for yourself. This differs from competitions like the Olympics, where your country’s sporting organization decides who may represent and attend international sporting events. This event is all-inclusive.
9. Why was Kansai chosen for the 2021 World Masters Games?
Any organization can bid to host the World Masters Games. The International Masters Games Association will review bids for each event and make a private decision.
It’s unknown how many countries or regions bid for each event. What is interesting is that Japan is the first Asian country to host, but the 2024 World Masters Games will also be in Asia, as Taiwan has been selected to host them.
10. Where is Kansai in Japan?
Kansai may not sound like a familiar place name to many people. However, it is located in western Japan and is its the second-largest economic zone. Two cities you’ve likely heard of are Osaka and Kyoto.
11. Is Kansai ready to host the 2021 World Masters Games?
Kansai is ready for the World Masters Games. They’ve added additional time to prepare for COVID restrictions and requirements. All venues were pre-existing, which is why there are so many spread across the entire region.
12. Will athletes be confined to Kansai sporting venues only?
There are no restrictions on the movement of athletes during the Kansai 2021 World Masters Games. The athletes may also be required to travel to various venues in the Kansai region. There is no closed-loop system as there was in the Tokyo Olympics or as there will be in the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022.
General local COVID precautions will be used for all participants and event-goers.
13. Where do athletes stay during the 2021 World Masters Games?
Unlike the Olympics, there are no athlete villages created for the Kansai 2021 World Masters Games. Therefore, athletes will be responsible for finding and paying for their accommodation.
The event organizers have set up accommodation recommendations and access through their website to ensure athletes pick hotels close to the venues they will be competing in.
14. Do athletes need to be amateurs at the Kansai 2021 World Masters Games?
There are no restrictions on athletes to be an amateur when competing in the Kansai 2021 games. Many former professional and Olympic athletes compete in the games, with 230 former Olympians competing in the 2009 World Masters Games.
So the World Masters Games in Kansai is your opportunity to compete against former Olympians and see how good you actually are in your chosen sport.
15. How many competitors are expected at the 2021 Kansai World Masters Games?
Every year more and more competitors are taking part in the World Masters Games. It has become the largest event of its kind in the world.
The Kansai 2021 games are expected to see close to 50,000 competitors. It’s also likely that around 20,000 of those competitors will be foreigners.
16. Is there a limit on how many competitors there can be at the 2021 Kansai Games?
There is no official limit on competitors for the overall Kansai World Masters Games. However, each discipline does have a maximum competitor limit. As an example, Windsurfing only allows 100 participants.
If you are the 101 entry in Windsurfing, you will be denied.
17. Will fans be able to attend the 2021 Kansai World Masters Games?
Fans and supporters may purchase tickets to attend events during the Kansai World Masters Games. However, each venue has limited capacity, and you may not be able to attend all events.
Fans from Japan and foreigners may purchase tickets and attend events where space is available.
18. Why aren’t there any winter sports included in the Kansai 2021 Games?
Just like the Olympics, the World Masters Games has Summer and Winter sports separated into different events. As a result, Kansai will only be hosting summer sporting events.
Lombardy, Italy, will be hosting the winter events in 2024.
19. What is the World Masters Games logo?
The Kansai 2021 World Masters Games logo is a multi-colored cherry blossom flower. Each color and petal represents one of the five event concepts.
Red is for the individual to shine, purple is for interaction and diversity, blue is for culture being shown in Kansai, green is for the world joining together for the games, and orange is for the future and the next generation.
20. What is the Kansai World Masters Games Motto?
The Kansai 2021 World Masters Games motto is “The Blooming of Sport For Life,” which means sport that enriches your life.
Final Thoughts
The Kansai organizing committee is hoping to provide a unique sporting experience for athletes and fans. They want to promote inclusion and diversity in sport, not only with participants but also in the sports that are being represented. Kansai is also hoping to boost its unique and interesting culture to the world and showcase everything the region has to offer.
The most interesting thing about the World Masters Games is the variety of different sporting events that are being run during such a small window. You have martial arts and orienteering happening at the same time, with athletes and spectators being as far apart from each other as you could imagine.
You have former professional athletes mixing with regular people that just love the sport, and that’s what it’s all about with the games, love of the sport, and inclusion of everybody.
