Host nation China capped The World Games 2025 in style, sealing a record 36 gold medals after Day 11 victories in breaking and inline freestyle skating, while Chinese Taipei stunned beach korfball giants Netherlands on the final day (late Sunday).
On Day 11, they too were successful in the Inline Freestyle Skating, grabbing gold in both the Men’s and Women’s Classic Slaloms.
Chinese Taipei was another major story of the day, upsetting Beach Korfball giants Netherlands, and the TWG event debut of MotoSurf (Powerboating) also took place.
Beach Korfball:
The World Games debut of Beach Korfball took place in Chengdu, and what a way it was to begin as Chinese Taipei stunned Netherlands – the historically dominant nation by a long way – getting gold with a tight 8–6 victory.
In the bronze medal match, Belgium decisively defeated Hungary 10–5 to take third place.
As well as a huge shock, Chinese Taipei’s win adds to their recent regional dominance—they were Asian champions and secured top spot in the IKF’s Beach Korfball World Rankings.
The Netherlands will still remain a powerhouse across Korfball disciplines, but not living up to their traditional strength at the sands of Xinglong Lake is a major disappointment for them.
Boules:
At Chengdu’s Sancha Lake Campus, Tunisia’s Mohamed Khaled Bougriba and Mouna Béji Ep Mattoussi edged out Thailand 10:9 to claim gold in the mixed Pétanque Classic Doubles—a victory that adds another prestigious international title to Béji’s stellar résumé of World, African, and Mediterranean championships.
In the bronze match, France’s Lucas Desport and Sandrine Poinsot delivered a commanding 13:4 win over Italy, securing their spot on the podium.
In the Women’s Lyonnaise Progressive discipline, China’s Wang Chenyi triumphed 40:37 against Türkiye’s Inci Ozturk, and was able to celebrate as the crowd favorite.
The battle for bronze was equally nail-biting, with Slovenia’s Jacqueline Kosir narrowly topping Lisa Gouilloud of France 34:33 to claim her medal.
Breaking:
China delivered a dominant performance across the Breaking finals as B-Girl Royal (Guo Pu) toppled her compatriot Liu Qingyi (671) – Paris 2024 bronze medallist – 3–0 to secure gold, while Nicka (Lithuania’s Olympic silver medallist) claimed bronze with a 3–0 win over Syssy (France).
In the B-Boys category, China’s Lithe-ing (Qi Xiangyu) edged out Japan’s Issin (Isshin Hishikawa) 2–1 in a packed Chenbei Gymnasium, fuelled by hometown support.
The bronze medal went to Shigekix of Japan, who beat fellow countryman Hiro10 2–1 for the third podium spot.
Duathlon:
Spain’s María Varo Zubiri and Javier Martín Morales clinched gold for Spain in a thrilling Mixed Relay, crossing the line in 1:19:21 thanks to a decisive final push from Morales.
Incredibly, of Spain’s eight gold medals in Chengdu, seven have been in speed races on road and track.
Just three seconds behind them, the Netherlands’ Aline Kootstra and Valentin van Wersch took silver in 1:19:24, earning the Netherlands their first-ever Duathlon medals at The World Games.
Belgium’s Jeanne Dupont and Arnaud Dely were right on their tails with the same time of 1:19:24, and were edged out by hundredths of seconds.
The competition at Chengdu’s scenic Xinglong Lake showcased masterful strategy across 20 teams racing the fast yet tactical 2 km run, 6 km bike, 1 km run format.
Flag Football:
In a dramatic showdown, Mexico edged out the United States 26–21 to successfully defend its women’s Flag Football title at The World Games Chengdu, solidifying Mexico’s status as the sport’s powerhouse.
The U.S., perennial favorites and world-ranked number one, pushed hard but were narrowly denied gold on a tight scoring exchange.
In the bronze-medal thriller, Canada overcame Austria by a sliver of a margin, clinching a 30–28 victory, adding to Canada’s strong continental tradition.
The podium sweep by America's teams highlighted once again the region’s dominance in Women’s Flag Football at The World Games.
Inline Freestyle Skating:
China dominated the Classic Slalom in Chengdu as Zhang Hao stormed to men’s gold with a flawless, penalty-free performance, while Valerio Degli Agostini of Italy secured silver with two penalties, and fellow Chinese skater Wang Yuxuan picked up bronze with one penalty.
In the women’s event, Zhu Siyi of China claimed the top spot despite two penalties, with compatriot Liu Jiaxin taking silver (1 penalty), and Spain’s Laura Oria Albelda capturing bronze (1 penalty).
Zhang, a 20-year-old Chengdu native fresh off his Speed Slalom victory yesterday, celebrated his second skating title at TWG 2025 and will now prepare for the upcoming 15th Chinese National Games.
Powerboating:
Czechia triumphed in the inaugural MotoSurf Mixed Nations Cup as Eliska Matouskova and Lukas Zahorsky powered to gold for Czechia with 18 points and a combined time of 10:48.000, setting the tone early in this new discipline at The World Games.
The Polish duo of Rozalia and Arkadiusz Janora claimed silver with 14 points (11:11.720).
In the men’s final, Lukas Zahorsky of Czechia continued his day’s success, capturing gold with a blistering 9:22.230 lap, while China’s Maozhu Zhang and Zhanghao Feng took silver (9:31.140) and bronze (9:40.290) respectively.
The women’s event saw Eliska Matouskova of Czechia claim gold (7:58.720), followed closely by China’s Gao Jiayin (8:02.090) and Slovakia’s Emma Strculova (8:05.900). Czechia clearly emerged as the TWG nation to beat in the sport’s explosive debut, winning all three golds at Sancha Lake Ma’anshan Arena.
Powerlifting:
Records tumbled in Chengdu as Ukraine’s Kostiantyn Musiienko lifted a Games record 1040.0kg at a body weight of 92.37kg in the men’s heavyweight class, edging compatriot Volodymyr Rysiev by just 10kg.
Norway’s Marte Elverum proved untouchable in the women’s heavyweight final with 662.5kg across squat, bench press, and deadlift, while Canada’s Rhaea Stinn claimed super heavyweight gold at 685.0kg.
Chinese Taipei’s Yang Sen brought the crowd to its feet by setting a Games record of 1118.5kg, weighing in at 117.75 kg on the day in the men’s super heavyweight category.
Racquetball
María José Vargas Parada (ARG) toppled Mexico’s Paola Longoria 3:1 after saving four game points in the third game to win the women’s singles title, before Conrrado Moscoso Ortiz (BOL) edged an entertaining five-game men’s final against a brave Diego García Quispe (ARG).
The Argentine was on the sidelines for a lengthy period in the fourth game as he pulled up with what appeared to be a groin injury, but despite the protestations of his own coach, he decided to finish the match admirably.
On a more cheery note, the TWG Athlete of the Year, Ortiz’s result is a historic one, winning Bolivia its first-ever gold at The World Games.
In the mixed doubles, the American pairing of Jacob Bredenbeck and Naomi Ros proved too good for Argentina, sweeping aside Vargas Parada and García Quispe 3:0 for gold.
Softball:
The United States of America secured a commanding 5–0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the women’s gold-medal softball final, thanks to a masterful shutout from American pitcher Megan Faraimo.
In the bronze-medal contest, Japan overwhelmed Canada with an emphatic 11–1 win, delivering a standout offensive performance from the Japanese lineup.
With this win, the United States extended its stronghold over Women’s Softball at The World Games, winning its fourth consecutive title.
These results in Chengdu underscore the fierce global competition that Softball will offer when it returns to the Olympics at LA28: USA’s precision and depth, Japan’s offensive firepower, and the rise of Chinese Taipei and Canada on the world stage.