At 500 days before The World Games 2017 (20-30 July 2017) starts, Marcin Przychodny, who took over in February as President of the Organizing Committee in Wrocław/Poland, describes his expectations for the biggest multi-sport event where 88 world best muaythai athletes will compete for IWGA medals.
What motivated you to step in and steer the TWG2017 organizers’ boat?
Marcin Przychodny: It is a huge project, very demanding. It is the biggest multi-sport event in the history of Poland. Wrocław has already hosted big events such as the UEFA Euro 2012, but none of them was as complex as The World Games. I believe that the City has the potential to prepare and organize, with essential help from IWGA, World Games to remember. It is an exciting prospect to be a part of it.

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How are you connected to the world of sports?
Marcin Przychodny: Sport plays a very important part in my life. I am a former professional table tennis player and coach. For the last couple of years I served as the Director of the Sports Department in the Lower Silesian regional government. I was in constant contact with sport clubs, activists, coaches, athletes – both amateur and professional. As the local government, we built 197 football fields, and 42 track and field venues as well as many other sport-related facilities. Recently, we have started the construction of many swimming pools that will serve local schools. We introduced multiple programs to activate young people in the region and created financial possibilities for the most talented to succeed. Lower Silesia became a true leader among Polish regions when it comes to sport. I also worked in the Organizing Committee of the UEFA Euro2012 in Wrocław and chaired the Organizing Committee of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Szklarska Poręba-Jakuszyce.
How would you describe your first impressions when starting to work with your team at the WOC?
Marcin Przychodny: From the very beginning I could feel a sheer force of energy, fresh ideas and dedication from my team. It is a very competent group of people. Some of them have already worked during big sport events that Wrocław was co-hosting. I am sure that thanks to the cooperation with IWGA we are able to achieve great things.

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Is there any sport on the program which you have ever practiced?
Marcin Przychodny: It is a very important quality of the sports on the program: most of them are accessible to everyone, popular and practiced by many, even though one may not realize they are World Games’ sports. It happened to me that during summer holidays I played flying disc with my children, had fun with my friends playing boules, and danced in the evening with my wife. All the sports mentioned are members of The World Games family!
Is there any sport you would like to name as your favorite one?
Marcin Przychodny: The World Games 2017 have plenty to offer. Some of the sports and disciplines are very demanding, all of them are spectacular and most of them are simply fun and accessible. If I am supposed to name one, it would be speedway. It is a big sport in Poland, the league is considered to be the best in the world and our riders are constantly in the top flight in international competitions. Among them Maciej Janowski – The World Games 2017 Ambassador, leader of Wrocław’s local club and the captain of the national team.

Read the full interview at https://www.theworldgames.org/