 | |
| Host city | Karlsruhe, West Germany |
|---|---|
| Nations | 36 |
| Athletes | 1,265 |
| Events | 112 (19 sports) |
| Opening | 20 July 1989 |
| Closing | 30 July 1989 |
| Opened by | President Richard von Weizsäcker |
| Main venue | Wildparkstadion |
The 1989 World Games (German : 1989 Weltspiele), commonly known as Karlsruhe 1989, were the third edition of the World Games, an international multi-sport event. This edition was held in Karlsruhe, West Germany.
112 titles were awarded in 19 sports (5 invitational sports not included). [1]
As Invitational sport
| Sport | Titles | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Artistic cycling | 4 | |
| Bodybuilding | 6 | |
| Boules | 2 | |
| Bowling | 3 | |
| Cycle ball | 1 | |
| Field archery | 4 | |
| Fistball | 1 | |
| Finswimming | 14 | |
| Karate | 12 | |
| Korfball | 1 | [2] |
| Life saving | 16 | |
| Netball | 1 | |
| Powerlifting | 6 | [3] |
| Artistic roller skating | 4 | |
| Roller speed skating | 10 | |
| Roller hockey | 1 | |
| Taekwondo | 12 | |
| Trampoline | 6 | |
| Tug of war | 2 | |
| Waterskiing | 6 | |
| Aikido | ||
| Bahn golf | ||
| Boomerang | ||
| Triathlon | ||
| Ultimate (flying disc) | ||
| Total | 112 |
The medal tally was as follows. Italy won the most gold medals in this edition; West Germany led in overall medals. [4] Two bronze medals were awarded in the men's karate kata event and in each karate kumite (10) and taekwondo (12) event.
* Host nation (West Germany)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy (ITA) | 21 | 15 | 14 | 50 |
| 2 |  West Germany (FRG)* | 18 | 13 | 27 | 58 |
| 3 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 15 | 13 | 8 | 36 |
| 4 |  United States (USA) | 8 | 9 | 9 | 26 |
| 5 |  France (FRA) | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| 6 |  South Korea (KOR) | 8 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| 7 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 6 | 6 | 11 | 23 |
| 8 |  Canada (CAN) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 9 |  Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 |  China (CHN) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 11 |  Japan (JPN) | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| 12 |  Austria (AUT) | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 13 |  Netherlands (NED) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 14 |  Belgium (BEL) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 15 |  Finland (FIN) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 |  Portugal (POR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 |  Indonesia (INA) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| 19 |  New Zealand (NZL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 |  Spain (ESP) | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 22 |  Australia (AUS) | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 23 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 24 |  Jordan (JOR) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 25 |  Philippines (PHI) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 |  Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 27 |  Turkey (TUR) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 28 |  Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Egypt (EGY) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 India (IND) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 33 |  Algeria (ALG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Poland (POL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 37 |  Luxembourg (LUX) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (37 entries) | 112 | 112 | 135 | 359 | |
The opening event was created and organised by the Traumfabrik theater.