Freeflying is the ultimate challenge in human flight: the athletes' interacting bodies are maneuvered through the sky with great precision. In canopy piloting, daring athletes accelerate their parachutes on the final approach above water, on a trajectory which takes them over great distances to their targets.

Fiji, under the lead of sevens standout Waisale Serevi, defend their title in the rugby final of The World Games 2005. The Fiji coach and skipper scored the winning try ... Epic!

The fistball final of The World Games 2005 Duisburg was a clash between different ways of interpreting the same ball game. Austria versus Brazil. One only needs to look to soccer to find a similar dividing line between the teutonic and the more playful ball handling 'do Brasil'.

In the final of the 2005 Duisburg Tenpin Mixed Doubles Shalin and Zulmazran Zulkifli (MAS) went up against Isabelle Saldjian and François Sacco (FRA). As expected, German bowlers dominated the Ninepin events.

Defending World Games Champion Ilenia Pasin (ITA) and her opponent Wang Mei (CHN) line up for the gold medal duel in the Women's Progressive Shuttle Throw with a 900-g bowl clenched in their fists. 5 km and nearly 50 precision throws are ahead of them.

By the time the athletes in body building get to perform their poses on stage, the hardes part of the contest lies behind them already: the countless hours spent in gyms to build up and tone their muscles, and the years of sacrifices to keep their bodies in shape.

Chen Chun-chen (TPE) had easily defeated the world #1, Allison Fisher (GBR), but met her match with young Austrian Jasmin Ouchan in the Women's 9-Ball Pool final. In carom's early rounds, Semih Sayginer (TUR) had his shares of problems too.

Combining grace, speed and an astonishing level of control, the skater show breathtaking jumps which smoothly transition into dance elements.Like their peers on ice, the athletes first perform as singles or pairs a number of compulsory figures, jumps and set sequences in the short programme, which is scored primarily on technical merit. In the long programme, their elaborate choreographies are accompanied by music of their choice and judged on artistic impression as well as technical merit.

The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung feature Barefoot, Wakeboard and Tournament Water Ski events on the emblematic Lotus Pond. Gathering the international elite in nearly all of the sport’s different disciplines is not that common an occurrence, even though they share common ground: the water. Equipment aside, there are similarities between the tournament (water ski) and the barefoot competitions: both include slalom, tricks and jumps. But wakeboarding, the most recent addition, has developed in a different direction: equipment, bindings and moves are quite similar to those in half-pipe snowboarding. With marks given for expression and intensity, the judges are looking for big air performances here too!

Carsten Ettrup (DEN) fought like a lion against Marcus Eriksson (SWE) in the preliminary round of the weight class up to 85 kg. A visibly fatigued Ettrup explains that outsmarting the opponent is the key to success in ju-jitsu combat.

Reigning World Champion Oleysa Lafina (RUS) wins in the women's lightweight event. Silver goes to Olena Dmytruk (UKR), bronze to Chen Wei-ling (TPE), but Yukako Fukushima (JPN) gets her share of the applause.

"Winning here in Duisburg was very important to me," squash legend Peter Nicol (GBR) said after his victory in the final. "Peter was everywhere on the court today. Nothing I could do; he's a great champion," world #1 Thierry Lincou (FRA) conceded defeat.

Speeding down a narrow track while performing a sheer endless series of somersaults and twists is not entirely without risk. A British athlete makes the the painful discovery.

Olga Kaparanova (RUS), Vera Sesina (RUS), Aliya Yussupova (KAZ), Natalia Godunka (UKR) and Anna Bessonova (UKR) split all 12 rhythmic gymnastics medals between them.

Indoor hockey, even though it is a discipline governed by an IWGA Member Federation, is on the Invitational Sports Program of The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung.

Jana Maisel (GER) continues to add to her impressive collection of titles. In Fly Accuracy she wins with 95 out of a possible 100 points. In the Spinning Accuracy she proves unbeatble too.

Lifesaving as an utterly purposeful sport as it aims to encourage rescuers – pool and ocean lifeguards – to maintain, develop and improve the physical and mental skills needed to save lives in the aquatic environment. A variety of different events test the athletes’ skills, fitness and motivation in situations not unlike those they encounter in their daily rescue work.

Kora Knühmann (GER), the 2004 World Karate Champion who hails from the World Games host city Duisburg, describes her sport best: "It's a challenge, mentally as well as physically, and the control over mind and body plays an important role in it."

Speed skating is pure racing! The gold goes to those who skate fastest. But few other sports can match the excitement of the head-to-head fights for positions between skaters hurtling themselves through curves. Or the photo-finish drama that unfolds once they cross the finish line. To win, the skaters need not only sprinting abilities and stamina, they also have to grasp the race situation quickly and use all advantages to beat their opponents on the home stretch. With the introduction of inline skates in 1992, the pace of the races has increased further – and new techniques and tactics have emerged to make them even more compelling. Regardless whether it is a sprint over 500 metres or an elimination race over 20 kilometres.

Frédérick Bousquet’s world record over 50 meters freestyle stands at 20.94 seconds. Shave off about 30% and you get to the record marks in men’s fin swimming (50 M APNEA): 14,34! The formula applies to all other distances as well. Attaching the mono fin, a large fibre glass or plastic blade, to both feet converts conventional swimming to the turbo-charged fin swimming. A snorkel, braced over the athlete’s forehead and nose, is used in addition to the mono fin for surface racing.

Germany's Anna Dogodnaze and Henrik Stehlik, gold and bronze medalists in individual trampoline at the Athens 2004 Olympics, go for the World Games title in the synchro event. Each with a strong partner!

After the Rock'n'Roll contest, the event which premiered in The World Games 2005, things became decidedly more formal. Italians Bosco and Pitton took to the floor for the finals in the Standard dances.

Aikido combats produce no winners and no losers. The simulations between the combatants aim to prove that any conflict can be neutralized effectively through the harmonious resolution of energies. As was taught by the O Sensei Uehsiba!

Six women from Romania lost out narrowly to an all-men team from China in aerobic gymnastics' group event.

In acrobatic gymnastics' mixed pair event it came down to a fight of elegance and harmony in the final for the gold: Belgium versus Russia.

Beach handball, even though it is a discipline governed by an IWGA Member Federation, is on the Invitational Sports Program of The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung.

"This should go down as on of the most exciting games ever played in canoe polo," said Lianne Grayson (GBR) of the women's final between her team and Germany. The men's final pitched Germany against the Netherlands.

Athletes in orienteering use map and compass to navigate their way over rough ground, through forest terrain – occasionally through a more urban setting as well – to find the control points forming the course. Electronic equipment verifies that these points have been passed in the right order. Other than that: the clock is the judge – the fastest time wins! Advanced map reading skills are in high demand.

The United States won against Australia in the ultimate final of The World Games 2005. The match ended 13:11 and proved once more that fierce competition for high stakes can go hand in hand with examplary conduct in the world's only self-officiated sport.

The ritualistic Dragon Boat Race is defined by the hypnotic drumbeat which determines and synchronises the cadence of the paddlers. The drummer sits facing the crew, next to the wooden dragon’s head. The standing helmsman keeps the craft on course with a sweep oar rigged at the rear of the boat. The twenty athletes – including a minimum of eight women – sit in pairs and strike only on one side. The races originated in southern central China more than 2,500 years ago, along the banks of such iconic rivers as the Yangtze. They were the basis for annual water rituals and festival celebrations venerating the traditional Dragon deity

The clash of sheer strength between opposing teams: there is hardly another sport that provides a more basic format for it than does tug of war. The Swiss looked stronger than ever in the early pulls. Until they had to match up against the Swedes ...

The United States fielded the youngest athlete, 16-year-old Alesia Mc Farlane, as well as the oldest: 52-year-old James Thompson. The lightest male athlete was Japan's Yuya Hanada, weighing in at 80kg, and the heaviest was a New Zealander: William Perenara with 203 kg.

Most of the pre-Games favorites made it to the top of the wall. Faster, higher! In Women's Lead, Angela Eiter (AUT) was, as expected, unbeatable. In Speed, Russians Anna Saulevich and Alexander Peshekhonov were simply faster than their peers. Anna even established a new world record.

Dave Cousin (USA) takes aim to defend his World Games title in a semi-final shoot-out against Sweden's Morgan Lundin. Arguably the two best archers in the compound division, they both had perfect scores on their earlier rounds.

A synthetic korf (basket) was used for the very first time in an international korfball tournament during The World Games 2005. Other than that it was business as usual: the Netherlands took gold, the Belgians silver ...

Inline hockey is a very similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived. The game is played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a centre line, with one net at each end of the rink. Beyond the obvious differences between ice and inline skates, there are a few other things setting inline apart from the game on ice. Inline hockey is played as a non-checking sport. Contact is allowed, but only when aiming to play the puck. Players tend to have more time on the puck, and the game is more free flowing.