The World Games 2025 #RoadtoChengdu – How to Follow Along!

This weekend (9th – 10th August), Melissa Johnson (Nottingham Kayak Club) and James Russell (Chelmsford Canoe Club) will be representing Great Britain and Canoe Marathon on the disciplines biggest stage, The World Games.

What is The World Games?

The World Games is an international multi-sport event, similar to the Olympic Games, but including sports that are not part of the traditional Olympic Games Programme. It is held every four years and in 2025, it will take place in Chengdu, China. Canoe Marathon has been an official event at The World Games since the 2022 edition in Birmingham, United States. Dragon Boating and Canoe Polo will also be part of the event programme, as well as many other sports.

Nations are required to qualify spots in the two race categories at the previous years World Championships. The two categories available for qualification are Senior Men K1 and Senior Women K1. For the 2025 edition, our senior athletes qualified both available spots, which continues our prefect qualification record for a second games in a row.

What does Canoe Marathon look like at The World Games?

At this year The World Games, canoe marathon involves two distances, short course and standard distance.

On Saturday 9th August, James and Melissa will compete in short course heats, where the fastest five boats from each heat will go into the final as well as the five next fastest finishers. The short course finals will be later that afternoon.

On Sunday 10th August, both categories will have a standard distance race of 21.5 kilometres and 8 portages.

How can I watch and support the team?

The World Games has officially launched it’s own platform for spectators and fans to follow all the live action. The World Games Live is an website and app which “will offer live coverage of competitions, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and medal ceremonies for all 34 sports of the programme. After each event concludes, all streamed content will become available as video on demand (VoD), ensuring fans can relive the highlights whenever they choose. Additionally, the platform will feature daily highlights and a dedicated Daily Show throughout the Games. The application will be available on desktop and mobile versions, completely free-of-charge”.

You can also follow along via our normal social media channels (as well as possible with the time difference!).

Schedule of Events

Thursday 7th August

Saturday 9th August

Sunday 10th August

We look forward to cheering both James and Melissa!