Sports of The World Games came together at The Olympic Channel headquarters recently to discuss ways to better promote sport together. Co-hosted by the Channel and the IWGA, it was a great success.

Twenty-five sports including muaythai were represented, along with FISU and Special Olympics. Each federation sent people who work on social media, websites and broadcasting of their sport to exchange ideas and learn together from one of the largest sports media providers in the world – the Olympic Channel.

They took part in discussions with experts from the Channel, The World Games, Twitter, Youtube and others on the latest trends and shared tips and techniques. Jochen Färber, head of the Olympic Channel’s Swiss office moderated a discussion about “how to do more with less” in sports media. A theme close to many hearts as media offices frequently operate with restricted budgets.

IWGA President José Perurena who attended the workshop said: “It was encouraging to see how well the people from our federations communicate and cooperate with each other and IWGA staff – in many ways we are all in the same situation and meet the same challenges in our communication work.”

The workshops looked at use of Live Streams in promoting sport, and how best to share the Stream after each event. Participants also learned better ways of using Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms, including of course the behemoths of Youtube and Facebook.

Staff from The Olympic Channel took everyone through how they ran media for the Youth Olympic Games. They stressed media in sports organisations should be about the athletes and finding creative ways to share the athletes’ journey.

IFMA media director Niamh Griffin attended for muaythai. She said it was exciting and extremely useful to spend time with people working to promote sport, and advice and tips picked up are sure to benefit muaythai athletes on the road towards The World Games 2021 in Birmingham.


The sports federations were also present at the opening of an exciting new exhibition at the headquarters of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and the Olympic Channel in Madrid. Titled  “The Olympic Games: Behind the Screen”, it’s a fascinating history of media coverage of the Olympic Games.

Anyone interested in sport should sign up here to free membership of The Olympic Channel  – not just live news but also feature films and documentaries on the athletes who inspire us.

Learn more about The World Games      and    The World Games 2021

(Images courtesy TOC)