The World Air Games have been called the "Olympics of Air Sports." The Games were established in the mid-1990s with the intention that they would take place every four years. Unlike the Olympics, it isn't the countries that are invited, it's the Sports themselves. So the idea was that a good majority of the 11 Air Sports would show up each time and conduct their own international competitions.
Not surprisingly, it turned out that hosting the World Air Games consumes a vast amount of time, money and labor, and to date, only four countries have accomplished it: Turkey (1997), Spain (2001), Italy (2009), and now UAE (2015). The Sport of Gliding has been to every one.
In the summer of 2014, FAI announced that the next World Air Games would take place in Dubai, UAE at the end of 2015. In the press release, ten air sport disciplines were mentioned, and Gliding wasn't one of them. The glider pilots of the world didn't seem to mind this, since it was assumed that the airspace restrictions in this part of the Middle East would present some challenges to holding a traditional competition, and the December time frame didn't inspire great confidence in the prospects for thermal soaring.
UAE seems to have a compulsion for bidding on international sporting events (2013 FIFA U17 World Cup, 2015 DP World Tour Championship, 2015 Formula 1 Grand Prix, 2016 Dubai World Cup, 2016 Duty Free Tennis Championship, Dubai Rugby Sevens, and the ever-popular Red Bull Flugtag).
When they decided to host the World Air Games, the Emirates told FAI that it was important to them to have the participation of all 11 Air Sports, without exception. Before FAI could explain that it wasn't logistically feasible for every sport to come to Dubai, the EAF said, "... and we'll pay for it all." That changed everything.
The new financial situation meant that the sport of Gliding would make an appearance, even if it involved inventing a new competition. So that's what we did.
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