As the highest level international comprehensive sports event for non Olympic events, the 12th World Games 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the "Chengdu World Games") will be held in Chengdu, Sichuan from August 7th to 17th. When did the World Games originate? How do you view the relationship between the World Games and the Olympic Games? How can the World Games promote the diversified development of global sports? Song Xiuping, Vice Dean of the School of History and Culture at Chengdu Sport University and Deputy Director of the Institute of Sports History, as well as an expert in the high-end sports think tank of the General Administration of Sport of China, was interviewed to interpret this. The summary of the interview transcript is as follows: Reporter: What is the World Games? What has been the development process of the World Games since its birth? Song Xiuping: In the 1970s, some international sports organizations had limited opportunities to include their sports in the Olympics, which led to the idea of hosting the World Games. On May 21, 1980, the International World Games Association (IWGA) was established in South Korea, representing 12 international sports federations including badminton, baseball, bowling, and karate. The World Games are hosted by the International Association of World Games, with non Olympic events as the main competition. They are held every four years, usually one year after the Olympic Games. In 1981, the first World Games were held in Santa Clara, California, USA, with athletes from over 50 countries and regions participating. The 44 year development process of the World Games from Santa Clara to Chengdu can be divided into three stages: initial development, global promotion (development), and modernization transformation. The period from 1981 to 2000 was the initial stage of development for the World Games. At this time, the scale of the World Games was still small, and the projects were mainly focused on exhibition and entertainment. The third World Games held in Germany in 1989 invited ordinary citizens to participate in the competition, achieving interaction between the event and local residents for the first time. Afterwards, the traditional way of organizing the World Games was to integrate events, athletes, and host cities. From 2000 to 2016, the World Games entered the stage of global promotion (development). At this stage, the International Association of World Games and the International Olympic Committee signed two memorandums of cooperation, and the World Games officially entered the "Olympic family". The International Olympic Committee not only provides financial support for the World Games, but also offers assistance in anti doping technology and actively encourages athletes from around the world to participate in the World Games. In 2001, the 6th World Games were held in Akita City, Japan, marking the first time the Games were held outside of Europe and America. Officials and athletes from 92 countries and regions participated in this grand event, setting a new record for the number of participating countries and regions in the history of the World Games. In 2013, the 9th World Games were held in Colombia, marking the first time the World Games entered South America. Since 2016, the World Games have entered a stage of modernization and transformation. During this period, the scale and structure of the World Games were upgraded and transformed, with a greater focus on digital and ecological development. An online public welfare platform was established to demonstrate a dual focus on environmental friendliness and social responsibility. The two-way flow between the World Games and the Olympic Games continues to deepen, with the addition of five events, including skateboarding and rock climbing, from the World Games system at the Tokyo Olympics. Reporter: When will China participate in the World Games? What unforgettable memories did the Chinese sports delegation leave behind in previous World Games? Song Xiuping: Chinese athletes participated in the first World Games in 1981. At that time, badminton had not yet been listed as an Olympic event. The Chinese badminton team regarded this World Games as a warm-up match before participating in the 1982 Thomas Cup, winning 4 gold medals out of 5 events and demonstrating strong strength. At the 5th World Games held in Finland in 1997, the Chinese sports delegation won 19 gold, 12 silver, and 7 bronze medals in the women's weightlifting, fin swimming, freestyle, bowling, and skydiving events, ranking second in the medal table and breaking three world records in women's weightlifting. In the past, weightlifting was seen as a symbol of men's strength, and the first Olympic Games included men's weightlifting as one of the nine official competition events. Women's weightlifting was not officially included in the competition until the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In subsequent Olympic Games, women's weightlifting not only received high attention, but also played a key role in balancing gender. At the 11th World Games held in Birmingham, USA in 2022, martial arts returned to the World Games after a nine-year hiatus. The Chinese sports delegation won four gold medals in men's knife and stick all-around, men's southern fist and stick all-around, women's long fist, and women's southern fist and knife all-around. Former International Olympic Committee President Bach watched the martial arts competition live and expressed his love for martial arts. As a former fencer, he even picked up Tai Chi sword to interact with Chinese athlete Lai Xiaoxiao. The 12th World Games in 2025 will be held in Chengdu, with a total of 34 major events, 60 sub events, and 256 sub events. Cheerleading originated from the United States and Loong Boat originated from China entered the World Games for the first time. At the Chengdu World Games, the Chinese sports delegation sent 321 athletes to participate in 28 major events and 152 minor events, making it the largest and most participated event since China's participation in the Games in 1981. Among them, 12 major events such as field hockey, cheerleading, frisbee, and motorboat participated for the first time. This is also the first time that China has selected disabled athletes to participate in the World Games. Reporter: How do you view the relationship between the World Games and the Olympic Games? How can the World Games promote the diverse development of global sports culture? Song Xiuping: The World Games were first held in the 1980s, more than 80 years later than the modern Olympic Games. Whether it is the scale of the events or the participating athletes, the World Games are the "little brothers" of the Olympic Games. The relationship between the World Games and the Olympic Games has gone through a process from "one-way blood transfusion" to "dynamic complementarity". The World Games and the Olympic Games, as the two major comprehensive events in the world, have different values, spiritual traits, participating subjects, and cultural subjectivity displayed. The participating entities of the Olympic Games are limited to member units of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games are more like a showcase of global sports culture, providing important impetus for the diverse development of global sports culture through its unique positioning and inclusive mechanism. Events such as Chinese martial arts, Japanese karate, Russian Sambo, and Thai Muay Thai all showcase their national cultural characteristics through the World Games, promoting cross-cultural understanding and avoiding sports culture being completely dominated by Olympic events. In history, badminton, beach volleyball, women's weightlifting, trampoline, taekwondo, karate, breakdancing and other sports have all accumulated influence through the World Games before entering the Olympics; Some projects also returned to the World Games due to insufficient adaptability after entering the Olympics. After nearly half a century of development, although the World Games and the Olympic Games have formed a two-way flow, they are not the "reservoir" of the Olympic Games or the "incubation pool" of Olympic events, but a complementary existence to the Olympic Games. The modern Olympic Games are facing challenges such as excessive commercialization, massive scale, and declining attention from young people. In order to promote the sustainability of the Olympic Games and increase the attention of young people, the International Olympic Committee has issued three documents: the Olympic Agenda 2020, the Olympic Agenda 2020+5, and the Olympic AI Agenda. The "change or be changed" on the wall of the "Olympic House" headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, is a manifestation of this determination to change. The World Games adheres to the concept of "not building new venues, low-cost renovation of existing facilities", as well as the inclusiveness of emerging sports projects, which not only conforms to the direction of sustainable development, but also meets the personalized viewing needs of Generation Z. Since its inception, the Olympic Games have mainly focused on Western sports events. If sports projects from other countries and regions want to enter the Olympics, they often need to undergo cultivation and development, complete the transformation from modern sports rules to Olympic style, which means making a trade-off between Olympic standards and traditional cultural characteristics. Therefore, some scholars have proposed that some projects that have not been included in the Olympics have more fully preserved the essence of their traditional sports culture, distinct ethnic characteristics, and unique style. The value of the World Games lies in its efforts to protect traditional sports culture that is on the brink of extinction, provide a stage for emerging sports to grow and showcase, and promote social equality and inclusiveness through the practice of "integrated sports". It also promotes the diverse development of global sports and realizes the vision that "sports belong to everyone". (Xinhua News Agency) Interviewee Profile: Song Xiuping, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Chengdu Sport University, Vice Dean of the School of History and Culture at Chengdu Sport University, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sports History, Director of the Museum at Chengdu Sport University, and Expert Advisor to the Chengdu Universiade Museum. He mainly engages in research on sports history, sports culture, and museum theory.