The Games

I am  here at the World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) so for my last post...I need to talk about them

The games have been held and organised every two years, this is the 18th games so can you work out what year they started? Answer at the bottom of this post.

The USA was the first country to suggest the idea, they had a Police Olympics  dating back to the 1960s. Over the years the idea to increase the participating countries evolved into what is now known as the World Police and Fire Games. 

They have been held across the continents:

• North America
  • Vancouver
  • Tenessee
  • California
• Europe
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • Rotterdam, Netherlands

Even Australia has hosted on two occasions. This is the first time it has been held in Asia and Chengdu residents seem pretty happy to be involved.

The games, is the second biggest international sporting event on the planet, second only to the Olympics. Every event garners over 10,000 athletes, competing in a range of individual and team sports.

So far I been lucky enough to see

• Volleyball
• Ice Hockey
• Bench Press
• Darts
• Taekwondo
• Half marathon

And my personal favourite...Dodgeball (there are 23 dodgeball teams)!

However, there are many more events that range from traditional sports like, soccer and basketball. To sports more associated with being an emergency service worker like 'Ultimate Firefighter',  stair climbing and pistol shooting.

Finally there are the games that aren't at any Olympics and don't seem to link to the police or fire professions...I think these sports are included to allow people from across the world to enter, come along to this fantastic event and participate! 

Dodgeball seems like a sport anyone can get involved in and lawn bowls is certainly a sport where, with a bit of luck you might be able to come out on top!

This is my final blog post! You can check out the WPFG website and I'll be back blogging and travelling soon. 
See you later alligators.

My view of the athletes village

My hotel