Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced Thursday morning that the International World Games, which had been scheduled to take place in Birmingham in 2021, will now be held in 2022.

The World Games is a competition where sports and disciplines not included in the Olympics get a chance to compete on the international stage. The event is typically held one year after the Olympics.

The Tokyo Olympics were recently delayed from 2020 until 2021 due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Woodfin said in a video posted to social media, “It is simply not practical to hold both The Olympic Games and The World Games in the same year.”

According to the event’s website, the new dates for the Games will be July 7-17, 2022.

The original dates in 2021 directly coincided with the new dates for the Tokyo Olympics.

The International World Games Association said in a statement, “Keeping to the original dates in July 2021 would have meant excluding many athletes and officials involved in the Olympics, and would have led to a potential reduction in public and media interest.”

“Moving The World Games to 2022 enables the IWGA, Birmingham Organizing Committee, and various sport federations to have a set date to work toward,” added Woodfin.

Birmingham’s mayor assured the public that his city and the organizing committee are still working hard to make the event the best World Games ever.

https://twitter.com/randallwoodfin/status/1245716449366347781

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.