# 1997 World Games

The 1997 World Games (Finnish: 1997 Maailman Pelit, Swedish: 1997 Världsspelen), the fifth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Lahti, Finland on August 7–17, 1997. The opening and closing ceremonies took place at the Lahti Sport Centre.

## Sports

The 1997 World Games programme featured 23 official sports and 5 invitational sports. (Aikido was deemed a demonstration sport; no medal events were held.) The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events that were contested in each sports discipline.

### Official sports

* Acrobatic gymnastics (15)
* Aerobic gymnastics (4)
* Archery (6)
* Artistic roller skating (4)
* Bodybuilding (9)
* Boules sports (2) $^P$
* Bowling (3)
* Casting (11)
* Dancesport (2)
* Finswimming (16)
* Fistball (1)
* Inline speed skating (10)
* Ju-jitsu (10)
* Karate (12)
* Korfball (1)
* Lifesaving (16)
* Parachuting (5)
* Powerlifting (6)
* Squash (2)
* Trampoline gymnastics (6)
* Tug of war (2) $^M$
* Water skiing (12)
* Weightlifting (9) $^W$

### Invitational sports

* Aikido $^N$
* Boules sports (2) $^L$
* Floorball (1)
* Military pentathlon (2)
* Pesäpallo (1)
* Tug of war (2) $^W$

## Calendar

| ● | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | ● | Event finals | ● | Closing ceremony |
| August | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th |
| Ceremonies | ● | | | | | | | | | | ● |
| Bodybuilding | | ● | ● | | | | | | | | |
| Bowling | | ● | ● | ● | | | | | | | |
| Casting | | | | ● | ● | ● | | | | | |
| DanceSport | | | | ● | ● | | | | | | |
| Fistball | | | ● | ● | ● | | | | | | |
| Gymnastics | | | | | ● | ● | ● | | ● | ● | |
| Ju-jitsu | | | | | | | | | ● | ● | ● |
| Korfball | | | | | | | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Squash | | | | | ● | | | | | ● | ● |
| Tug of war | | | | | | | | | | ● | ● |
| August | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th |

## Medal table
### Official sports

The medal tally during the fifth World Games is as follows. United States finished at the top of the final medal table. Two bronze medals were awarded in each of the nine karate kumite events. No bronze medals were awarded in two bodybuilding and three weightlifting events. No silver medal was awarded in one weightlifting event.
* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 17 | 18 | 10 | 45 |
| 2 | China (CHN) | 16 | 14 | 5 | 35 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) | 15 | 16 | 10 | 41 |
| 4 | Russia (RUS) | 15 | 10 | 13 | 38 |
| 5 | Italy (ITA) | 12 | 12 | 15 | 39 |
| 6 | Sweden (SWE) | 8 | 5 | 10 | 23 |
| 7 | Great Britain (GBR) | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 |
| 8 | Japan (JPN) | 6 | 3 | 5 | 14 |
| 9 | Belgium (BEL) | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 10 | France (FRA) | 5 | 12 | 7 | 24 |
| 11 | Ukraine (UKR) | 5 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 12 | Australia (AUS) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| 13 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 14 | Spain (ESP) | 5 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| 15 | Netherlands (NED) | 4 | 6 | 7 | 17 |
| 16 | Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Belarus (BLR) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 18 | Canada (CAN) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 19 | Hungary (HUN) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 20 | Colombia (COL) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 21 | Egypt (EGY) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | South Africa (RSA) | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 23 | Austria (AUT) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 24 | Slovakia (SVK) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 | Denmark (DEN) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 26 | Norway (NOR) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 27 | Slovenia (SVN) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 27 | South Korea (KOR) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 29 | Greece (GRE) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 | Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 31 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | Indonesia (INA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 | Brazil (BRA) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 35 | Argentina (ARG) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 35 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 37 | Malaysia (MAS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Finland (FIN)* | 0 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 40 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 41 | Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 42 | Liechtenstein (LIE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 42 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 44 | Georgia (GEO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Iran (IRI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Lithuania (LTU) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Philippines (PHI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (48 entries) | Totals (48 entries) | 164 | 163 | 168 | 495 |

### Invitation sports

* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China (CHN) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Netherlands (NED) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Spain (ESP) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Finland (FIN)* | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | Croatia (CRO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Slovenia (SVN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (14 entries) | Totals (14 entries) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |