The 1981 World Games were the first World Games, an international multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California, United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics, including tug-of-war, racquetball, baseball and softball, artistic roller skating, roller hockey, roller speed skating, finswimming, karate, women's water polo, bowling, bodybuilding, waterskiing, casting, badminton, trampoline, powerlifting and taekwondo. Best estimates for attendance figures were that about 80,000 spectators witnessed the first World Games.
Buck Shaw Stadium, site of the opening ceremonies and tug of war matches
World Games I souvenir button
Dr. Kim Un-yong of South Korea opens World Games I.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, winner of seven consecutive world championships, carries the flag of the International Federation of Bodybuilders in the opening ceremony of World Games I in 1981 at Santa Clara University, California.
Tug of war is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team's pull.
Ireland 600 kg team in the European Championships 2009
A tug of war between asuras and devas (Angkor Wat, Cambodia)
A tug of war in Japan from "Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga" (Animal-person Caricatures) 12–13th century
Women in a tug of war, at the annual Pushkar Fair, Rajasthan, India
