World Transplant Games

The World Transplant Games (WTG) are an international multi-sport event, occurring every two years, organized by the World Transplant Games Federation (WTGF). The Games promote amateur sport amongst organ transplant recipients, living donors and donor families.

Summer and winter sports alternate years and the event is open to anyone who has received a solid organ transplant including liver, heart, lung, kidney, pancreas or bone marrow. The idea is that people who receive these organs need to take immunosuppressants for the rest of their lives and since such drugs affect athletic performance, the games were started to give donors a level playing field.[1]

History

The games started in 1978 in Portsmouth, England with about 100 athletes from the UK, France, Germany, Greece and the United States.

The 2023 games in Perth, Australia include competitors from more than 60 countries and include events over seven days such as cycling, swimming, darts, bowling and more.[2] There are ceremonies during each of the games to honor the families of the deceased and living donors.[1]

Summer Games

Source:[3]

In 1987 and 2017 the World Transplant Games Federation was officially formed.

Now has nearly 70 member countries.

2013 and 2021 Recognized by IOC.

Year Games Host Dates Nations Athletes Ref
1978 1 United Kingdom Portsmouth, Great Britain 5 100
1979 2 United Kingdom Portsmouth, Great Britain
1980 3 United States New York City, United States
1982 4 Greece Athens, Greece
1984 5 Netherlands Amsterdam, Netherlands
1987 6 Austria Innsbruck, Austria
1989 7 Singapore Singapore
1991 8 Hungary Budapest, Hungary
1993 9 Canada Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1995 10 United Kingdom Manchester, Great Britain
1997 11 Australia Sydney, Australia
1999 12 Hungary Budapest, Hungary
2001 13 Japan Kobe, Japan
2003 14 France Nancy, France
2005 15 Canada London, Ontario, Canada
2007 16 Thailand Bangkok, Thailand
2009 17 Australia Gold Coast, Australia
2011 18 Sweden Gothenburg, Sweden
2013 19 South Africa Durban, South Africa [4]
2015 20 Argentina Mar del Plata, Argentina 23 – 30 August 44 1,110 [5]
2017 21 Spain Málaga, Spain 25 June – 2 July 52 2,500 [6]
2019 22 United Kingdom Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, Great Britain 17 – 23 August 60 2,400 [7]
2021 23 United States 5K AnyWay (2021 Games set for Houston cancelled) Virtual [8][1]
2023 24 Australia Perth, Australia 15 – 21 April
2025 25 Germany Dresden, Germany 16 – 23 August [9][2]

Winter Games

Source:[10]

Year Games Host Dates Nations Athletes Ref
1994 1 France Tignes, France
1996 2 France Pra-Loup, France
1999 3 United States Snowbird, Utah, United States
2001 4 Switzerland Nendaz, Switzerland
2004 5 Italy Bormio, Italy
2008 6 Finland Rovaniemi, Finland
2010 7 France Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, France
2012 8 Switzerland Anzere, Switzerland
2014 9 France La Chapelle-d'Abondance, France
2016 - not held [11]
2018 10 Switzerland Anzère, Switzerland 7–12 January
2020 11 Canada Banff, Alberta, Canada 23–28 February [12]
2022 (Postponed) [13]
2024 12 Italy Bormio, Italy 3–8 March [13]

Sports

Source:[14][15][16]

Youth and Core Sports

19 Youth Sports: 10 Summer + 9 Winter Sports[17]

20 Core Sports: 14 Summer + 6 Winter Sports[18][19]

Summer: Badminton, Bowling, Cycling, Darts, Golf, Petanque, Road Running, Squash, Swimming, Track & Field, Table Tennis, Tennis, 3 on 3 Basketball, Volleyball

Winter: Curling, Biathlon, Skiing, Snowboarding, Cross Country, Snowshoeing

All Sports

SPORTS – DONORS (including deceased donor families and living donors) • Road Race • 50m Freestyle • Athletics: 100m sprint, ball throw, long jump

Records

Results & Awards

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Age Groups

Seniors age groups:

  • (18-29), (30-39), (40-49), (50-59), (60-69), (70-79) and (80+). Doubles events: (18-29), (30-49) and (50+).

Juniors age groups:

  • (5 years and under), (6-8), (9-11), (12-14) and (15-17). Juniors 16 or 17 years of age are permitted to compete in adult age events, but must then compete only in adult events.

Medals

Source:[20]

Summer

1978:[21] 99 competitors UK, France, Germany, Greece and the USA.

2011: [22] Sweden 17-24 June, 2011 Team UK 115 Gold, 94 Silver and 77 Bronze medals

2013: [23]

2015: [24]

2017: [25]

2019: [26]

2021: [27]

2023: [28][29][30][31][32]

2025: [33][34][16]

Winter

2020: [35][36]

2024: [37][38]

References

  1. ^ a b Mathewson, Eryn (2023-04-13). "The unexpected journeys of four athletes to one of the biggest competitions you've probably never heard of". CNN. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  2. ^ "How the World Transplant Games: gave Watford man a post-op goal". BBC News. 2023-04-11. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  3. ^ "Previous Games - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  4. ^ Nelson, Barry (13 August 2013). "Kaylee wins gold, 25 years after becoming world's first heart transplant baby". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  5. ^ "2015 Summer Transplant Games Official Web Site". Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "2017 Summer Transplant Games Official Web Site". Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  7. ^ "2019 Summer Transplant Games Official Web Site". Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Media Release: World Transplant Games - New host city awarded". Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ^ "World Transplant Summer Games 2025 finden in Dresden statt". 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Previous Games - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  11. ^ "HOST FOR THE 2018 WINTER WORLD TRANSPLANT GAMES ANNOUNCED" (Press release). World Transplant Games Federation. 4 May 2017.
  12. ^ "11TH WORLD TRANSPLANT WINTER GAMES 2020" (Press release). World Transplant Games Federation. 20 June 2019.
  13. ^ a b "12TH WORLD TRANSPLANT WINTER GAMES TO TAKE PLACE IN BORMIO, ITALY IN 2024" (Press release). World Transplant Games Federation. 20 June 2021.
  14. ^ worldtransplantgames.org/sports/
  15. ^ worldtransplantgames.org/sports-rules/
  16. ^ a b "The Sports - World Transplant Games". wtg2025.com. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  17. ^ "Sports - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  18. ^ "Sports - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  19. ^ "Sports Rules - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  20. ^ "Results & Awards - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  21. ^ "History - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  22. ^ "TransWorld - The Journal of the World Transplant Games Federation 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-27.
  23. ^ "19th World Transplant Games - Durban 2013" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-27.
  24. ^ "2015 World Transplant Games, Mar Del Plata, Argentina - Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-20.
  25. ^ "XXI World transplant games - Estadio ciudad de Malaga" (PDF). 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-15.
  26. ^ "2019 World Transplant Games - Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-08-14.
  27. ^ "Virtual Events - World Transplant Games Federation". wtgf.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  28. ^ "2023 World Transplant Games Perth - Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-03-30.
  29. ^ "Results - World Transplant Games". Archived from the original on 2023-11-06. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  30. ^ "Medal Tally - World Transplant Games". Archived from the original on 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  31. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  32. ^ https://worldtransplantgames.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Medal-Tally_060623_Donor.pdf
  33. ^ "Events Schedule - World Transplant Games 2025 Dresden". wtg2025.com. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  34. ^ "Countdown to the World Transplant Games 2025 in Dresden". wtg2025.com. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
  35. ^ 2020 World Transplant Winter Games, Banff, AB - Complete Sports Results
  36. ^ "Medals – 2020 Winter World Transplant Games Medal Table" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-07.
  37. ^ 12th World Transplant Winter Games 2024
  38. ^ Medal Tally - 12th World Transplant Winter Games 2024 – Bormio, Italy
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