Bowling will not return to The World Games in 2029 after being left out of the confirmed sports programme for Karlsruhe, Germany.
The International World Games Association announced the full programme for Karlsruhe, Germany. It features 36 sports and 62 disciplines, with around 4,000 athletes from more than 100 countries expected to compete from July 19-29, 2029.
Unfortunately, bowling is not among them.
The decision ends the possibility of a comeback that appeared in April.
When the first 31 sports were announced, bowling remained under consideration alongside baseball/softball, racquetball and sambo.
At the time, the IWGA told BowlingLife that no decision had been made and that the remaining candidates would be considered separately.
“At this stage, the inclusion of bowling in the TWG 2029 programme has not yet been confirmed. However, it is on the list of sports that will still be considered, and a decision on those will be communicated by 1 July,” said Anna Jacobson, Head of Social Media and Digital Engagement.
Of those four candidates, baseball/softball was added to the final programme through the Baseball5 discipline, while sambo was also included. Bowling and racquetball do not appear on the confirmed list.
Bowling will now miss The World Games for the second consecutive edition after also being absent from Chengdu 2025. The sport had previously appeared at every edition since the inaugural Games in 1981.
Karlsruhe will host The World Games for the second time, 40 years after the German city first staged the event in 1989.
Competition schedules, qualification systems and medal events for the confirmed sports will be announced later.
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