Medalists
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bronze | Prakash Padukone | Badminton | Men's singles |
The 1981 World Games were the first World Games and were held in Santa Clara, California in the United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics. India competed at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara and won one Bronze medal in Badminton Men's Singles. [1]
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | Prakash Padukone | Badminton | Men's singles |
Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps is a competitive drum and bugle corps, based in Santa Clara, California. The Santa Clara Vanguard is one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International (DCI) and a seven time DCI World Champion, winning the title most recently in 2018.
Stevens Stadium is a 7,000-seat soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. The stadium is the current home of the Santa Clara Broncos soccer teams and was the former home of the now-defunct football team as well as the baseball team. The baseball team moved to their new home at Stephen Schott Stadium in 2005.
The 1981 World Games were the first World Games, an international multi-sport event, and were held in Santa Clara, California, United States. The games featured sports that were not included in the Olympics, including tug-of-war, racquetball, baseball and softball, artistic roller skating, roller hockey, roller speed skating, finswimming, karate, women's water polo, bowling, bodybuilding, waterskiing, casting, badminton, trampoline, powerlifting and taekwondo. Best estimates for attendance figures were that about 80,000 spectators witnessed the first World Games.
Softball was introduced as a World Games sport at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara and discontinued after the 1985 games in London. It was reintroduced as a women's invitational sport in 2009 in Kaohsiung after it had been removed from the Olympic Games programme, and from 2022 it was again part of the official programme.
The Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball team represents Santa Clara University in NCAA Division I basketball competition. The team plays home games at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, California and have been members of the West Coast Conference since its formation in 1952. The team is currently coached by Herb Sendek, who had previously been the head coach at NC State and Arizona State. Sendek was hired on March 29, 2016.
Karate was introduced as a World Games sport at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara, California. Karate has been a World Games sport in every edition of The World Games. There have been kata and kumite events at every edition of the games.
The Santa Clara Broncos baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team that represents Santa Clara University in NCAA Division I college baseball. Santa Clara Baseball competes in the West Coast Conference, of which the Santa Clara Broncos were a charter member. The Broncos play their home games on campus at Stephen Schott Stadium, which opened in 2005. The Broncos and are led by head coach Rusty Filter, currently in his fifth season.
Roller Hockey was introduced as a World Games sport for men at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara. In 2005 it was replaced by Inline hockey.
Finswimming has featured as a trend sport at the World Games since the inaugural 1981 World Games held in Santa Clara, California.
Badminton was introduced and only played at the 1981 World Games. The badminton events of World Games I were held on July 25–28, 1981, at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. China, in its first summer multi-sport event since the 1936 Summer Olympics, competed in badminton only, winning four of the five gold medals. Seventeen of the countries at these Games participated in badminton, making it one of the most represented sports. The players executive of the International Badminton Federation, Ciro Ciniglio, expressed disappointment at the lack of media coverage of badminton, saying, "We have many world champions competing here and ... were hoping all these great players would draw crowds. ... The United States over the years has had very good players, some of the finest. It was our hope to help the sport gain popularity in the United states by showcasing all this fine talent."
Medal events in both men's (4) and women's (2) bodybuilding were included in World Games I. They were held on July 30–31, 1981, at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose, California. The 1981 Games were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were held in California's Santa Clara Valley. In the bodybuilding competition, the preliminary rounds featured two-on-two competition. Point scoring was based on mandatory posing and optional posing determined by the athlete. 26 of the countries at these Games participated in bodybuilding, making it one of the most represented sports.
The World Games I baseball competition was held on July 27–30, 1981, at San Jose Municipal Stadium in San Jose, California. The 1981 Games were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were held in California's Santa Clara Valley. Teams from the United States, Australia, South Korea and Panama participated.
The World Games I women's water polo competition was held on July 25–27, 1981, at Santa Clara International Swim Center in Santa Clara, California. Teams from the United States (2), Netherlands and Canada participated. Six days before the first game, Canada had become the newly-crowned World Cup champion in Brisbane, Australia, in a competition that included the same three teams that medaled in these Games.
Both men's and women's softball tournaments were conducted during World Games I. The games were played July 30 - August 2, 1981 at Central Park in Santa Clara, California. Teams from the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Chinese Taipei participated in the women's event, while in the men's event, the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico were initially slated to appear. As the time of the Games approached, the Mexican team withdrew for financial reasons and was replaced by a second team from the United States.
The racquetball events of World Games I were held on August 1–2, 1981, at the Decathlon Club in Santa Clara, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. This racquetball competition also served as the first Racquetball World Championships tournament in the sport of racquetball. In addition to the five nations mentioned below, athletes from Japan also participated in the competition.
The artistic roller skating events of World Games I were held on July 27–30, 1981, at Cal Skate Roller Rink in Milpitas, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara.
The road speed skating events of World Games I were held on August 1, 1981, in the vicinity of Marriott’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. This was the first time that the marathon and half-marathon road events were conducted in international competition. Both events were held on the city streets of Santa Clara. Tom Peterson of the United States set an American record in winning the marathon.
The karate events of World Games I were held on July 25–27, 1981, at the Toso Pavilion on the campus of Santa Clara University in California, United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of city of Santa Clara. It was anticipated that Japanese athletes would perform well at karate. They did so by winning 12 medals among the nine events, including five gold medals.
The powerlifting events of World Games I were held on July 25–26, 1981, at Marriott's Great America amusement park in its Grandstand Pavilion in Santa Clara, California. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara in the United States. The powerlifting events apparently had a dearth of competitors, as there were no bronze medals awarded in eight of the nine events, and lifters representing the United States won 15 of the 18 medals awarded. In the -100 kg class, Jim Cash of the U.S. set world records in both dead lift and total lift.
The finswimming events of World Games I were held on July 25–27, 1981, at Santa Clara International Swim Center in Santa Clara, California, in the United States. These were the first World Games, an international quadrennial multi-sport event, and were hosted by the city of Santa Clara. Athletes from Italy won 16 of the 36 total medals. France followed with 11 medals. Jürgen Kolenda of West Germany collected four gold medals.