WFDF PRESS RELEASE: Freestyle teams announced for GAISF's World Urban Games

4 September 2019

The World Flying Disc Federation is pleased to announce the Freestyle athletes who will compete at the inaugural World Urban Games (WUG), to be held September 13-15 in Budapest. Freestyle Flying Disc is one of six competition sports to be featured, with the others being 3x3 Basketball, BMX freestyle, Breaking, Roller freestyle, and Parkour. The Games will take place at the Nagyvásártelep (Market Hall) in the south of Budapest, just 15 minutes from the city center. The whole area, originally built in the 1930s, is being regenerated specifically for the WUG.

In order to strike a balance of world regional talent, and to field top-quality teams for the WUG competition, the WFDF Freestyle Committee -- in consultation with the Freestyle Players Association -- used the following selection priorities: diversify freestyle athletes to represent as many countries as possible, emphasize youth, utilize the FPA competition rankings, and consider recent competitive success. For WUG, WFDF will featured a mixed gender pairs competition with 12 teams from 9 countries. The qualifying athletes are:

1. Juliana Korver/Ryan Young (USA)

2. Emma Kahle/Daniel O’Neill (USA)

3. Bianca Strunz/Fabian Dinklage (GER)

4. Ilka Simon/Waldemar Wagner (GER)

5. Maxine Mittempergher/Edo Turri (ITA)

6. Anna Bragagnolo/Andrea Rimatori (ITA)

7. Joakim Arveskar/Vendella Arveskar (SWE)

8. Meirav Pinhas/Yuval Reikoren (ISR)

9. Benedicte Audet/Brett Schramek (CAN)

10. Marysia Ryszarda Krajewska/Kuba Radwanska (POL)

11. Sophie Rickers/Gordon Brown (GBR)

12. Paola Andrea Garcia Palaez/Pablo Azul (COL)

"The WFDF Freestyle community is ecstatic to have this opportunity to present their sport through the inaugural World Urban Games in Budapest," said Kevin "Skippy Jammer" Givens, WFDF board member and chair of the Freestyle Committee. "Being able to present Freestyle in a multi-sport event has been a long time goal. We look forward to future opportunities for the growth of our sport that participating in this event will catalyze."

"We are extremely pleased that the Flying Disc sport of Freestyle will be featured on GAISF’s World Urban Games programme as a competition sport," commented WFDF President Robert "Nob" Rauch. "Freestyle is a youthful and modern sport which fits quite well in beautiful Budapest’s urban setting along the Danube. We are excited to showcase the skill and artistry of our athletes and are confident it will be an attractive event for both local spectators and social media audiences."

WFDF has been promoting Freestyle this year leading up to the WUG. A group of ambassadors traveled to the island of Sal, Cape Verde, to introduce hundreds of young people to Flying Disc Freestyle through demos and workshops, as part of the inaugural African Beach Games, which took place from 14-23 June 2019.

Powered by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), the World Urban Games is set to become the ultimate global showcase for a new generation of urban sports. The WUG is the ultimate celebration of new-generation sports forged by the spirit of youth. It is a showcase for the skill, style and power of the most inspirational urban athletes on the planet. The World Urban Games comprises a wide-ranging program of competitive and showcase urban sports complimented by a Festival of youth-focused music, art and culture. These multi-sport games will be held every two years and will feature a wide range of events.

Competitive Freestyle combines aspects of gymnastics and dance with the basic game of throw and catch, and it is one of the most artistic and technically-challenging disciplines in Flying Disc sport. Teams of two or three players perform choreographed routines consisting of throws and catches of varying degrees of difficulty, and moves such as air brushes, nail delays, and triple-spinning catches. Routines are typically three to five minutes in length and are evaluated by judges who base their scores on the difficulty (10), artistic impression (10), and execution (10) of the routine. The team with the highest score wins (30 is a perfect score).

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Best regards,

Volker Bernardi

Executive Director

World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)

Enggasse 2a, D - 55296 Harxheim, Germany

Mobile: +49 176 64 19 77 02

eMail: volker.bernardi@wfdf.org

Web: www.wfdf.org

About WFDF: The World Flying Disc Federation is the international sports federation responsible for world governance of flying disc (FrisbeeTM) sports, including Ultimate, Beach Ultimate, Guts, and Individual Events. WFDF is a federation of member associations which represent flying disc sports and their athletes in more than 85 countries. WFDF is an international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a member of ARISF, SportAccord and the International World Games Association, and it is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the state of Colorado, USA. The WFDF Executive Committee: President Robert L. "Nob" Rauch, Secretary Thomas Griesbaum, Treasurer Kate Bergeron.

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