Multi Sport Events! Something more than just Olympics!

After the amazing summer that 2012 offered in the multi sport events world in London, it is no wonder that the world now is looking forward to the new Olympic games in 2016 in Rio. The excitement and the expectations are more than trilling as the city will be hosting two years before the event the FIFA World Cup. 

However, there is so much more that the sport event world can offer while waiting for the BIG BANG! Some time after the Olympics my attention was attracted to the phenomenon of the multi sport international events. And as usual my curiosity led me to looking around the media space and I came across some of the must follow upcoming events that normally you would just miss because you wouldn´t have paid enough attention when you first hurt about them.

This year Kazan will be the host for the Summer Universiade and Trentino will be for the winter edition. This mini Olympic Games type event is scheduled to take place every 2 years and is a competition between different universities as the name is suggesting. All activities are based on the Olympic disciplines and structure. 

Other interesting games that are worth mentioning are the Meditterean Olympic games. The games are organised every 4 years and there are 23 countries that can compete, as one of the basic requirements is that all competitors have to have access to the Meditterean Sea, and for this reason the continents that are represented are Africa, Asia and Europe. This year´s event will be hosted in Mersin in the summer. Sports that can be followed are beach volleyball, beach soccer and traditional disciplines that can be found as well at the Olympic Games. 

The Commonwealth of Nations is a multi sport event organised for the British Empire, where now is integrated by 54 independent member states that take part in it. The games are a symbol of the human rights and the democracy and give a great honour to all participants and the host community. The next games are due to be held in Glasgow in 2014. At the games there can be seen sports as the Lawn Bowls, Netball and some of the traditional sports. 

The last games that I find interesting have been the World Mind Sport Games. It is believed to be a creation of a third kind of Olympic games and for this reason they always take place about two months after the actual Olympic games. The history of this type of event is quite new and there is still lot to be seen as it only started after the games in Beijing in 2008 and with an upcoming event in 2016 in Rio. The games that can be found in this edition of multi sport event are bridge, chess and checkers among other mind games and puzzles.

For sure this time I am not going to miss any of the excitement and the thrill of watching something new and interesting while waiting for the big players to come together for the Olympics 2016 in Rio! And what about you?

Anita Neycheva