The Bandy World Championships are a competition between bandy-playing nations (they should not be confused with the Bandy World Cup, a club competition). The tournament is administrated by the Federation of International Bandy.

Although bandy has been played since the 19th century, the first men's world championships were only played in 1957, and the first women's ones were only in 2004. From 1961-2003, the men's championships were played every two years, but has since then been played annually. The WCS in 2010 was first cancelled,^[1] but then Moscow agreed to organize it on short notice. ^[2] In 2014 it is planned to be played in Sochi at the same time as the Olympic Games.

Participating nations[link]

For a long time, only four countries competed in the world championships: the Soviet Union, Sweden, Finland and Norway, with the Soviet Union as the dominating country. Since then, more countries have joined the tournaments, starting with the United States in 1985. The interest for the sport has spread to other parts of Europe, North America and Asia, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 also opened the way for separate national teams from the former states of that union. The record number of participants are 14 for men and 7 for women. With more nations competing, group B was created in 1991. From 2012 there was a group C for the first time as 14 countries participated. Japan and Kyrgyzstan made their first World Championships. Russia, Finland, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Norway and USA played in group A, Belarus, Canada, the Netherlands, Hungary and Latvia in group B and Estonia, Kyrgyzstan and Japan in group C. In each championship, the best team in group B use to go into a playoff match with the team which came bottom of the A-group, replacing them if they won. There was no playoff match in 2012. The last team of group A was automatically relegated and the 1st team of group B promoted. The same goes for the exchange between the groups B and C. In 2013 they will be played in a location separate from group A.

TV broadcasting[link]

The interest is biggest in Sweden, Finland and Russia.^[3] For a few times now it has been shown on Eurosport 2. FIB has given the rights for the 2012 tournament to SPORTLIVE LLC.[1]

Bandy World Championships, men[link]

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
1957	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	Helsinki, Finland
1961	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Norway
1963	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	Sweden
1965	Soviet Union	Norway	Sweden	Soviet Union
1967	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	Finland
1969	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Sweden
1971	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Sweden
1973	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Moscow, Soviet Union
1975	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Finland
1977	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Norway
1979	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Sweden
1981	Sweden	Soviet Union	Finland	Khabarovsk, Soviet Union
1983	Sweden	Soviet Union	Finland	Helsinki, Finland
1985	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Oslo, Norway
1987	Sweden	Finland	Soviet Union	Stockholm, Sweden
1989	Soviet Union	Finland	Sweden	Moscow, Soviet Union
1991	Soviet Union	Sweden	Finland	Helsinki, Finland
1993	Sweden	Russia	Norway	Hamar, Norway
1995	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Roseville, MN, United States
1997	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Västerås, Sweden
1999	Russia	Finland	Sweden	Arkhangelsk, Russia
2001	Russia	Sweden	Finland	Oulu, Finland
2003	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	Arkhangelsk, Russia
2004	Finland	Sweden	Russia	Västerås, Sweden
2005	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	Kazan, Russia
2006	Russia	Sweden	Finland	Stockholm, Sweden
2007	Russia	Sweden	Finland	Kemerovo, Russia
2008	Russia	Sweden	Finland	Moscow, Russia
2009	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Västerås, Sweden
2010	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Moscow, Russia
2011	Russia	Finland	Sweden	Kazan, Russia[4][5]
2012	Sweden	Russia	Kazakhstan	Almaty, Kazakhstan[6]
Upcoming events, provisionally planned
2013				Sweden[7]
2014				Sochi, Russia[4][5]

Medeo was the main arena for the 2012 tournament

Medal table[link]

Countries in italics no longer compete at the World Championships.

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
Russia  Soviet Union	20 !6 14 20	10 !8 2 10	2 !1 1 2	32 !15 17 32
Sweden	11	14	7	32
Finland	1	7	19	27
Norway	0	1	1	2
Kazakhstan	0	0	3	3

Bandy World Championships, women[link]

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Venue
2004	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Finland
2006	Sweden	Russia	Norway	United States
2007	Sweden	Russia	Norway	Hungary
2008	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Sweden
2010	Sweden	Russia	Norway	Norway
2012	Sweden	Russia	Finland	Irkutsk, Russia[8]

Medal table[link]

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Medals
Sweden	6	0	0	6
Russia	0	6	0	6
Finland	0	0	3	3
Norway	0	0	3	3

References[link]

External links[link]

• Results from the championships 1957-1999 by Per G. Olsson

A world championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field. Certain sports do not have a world championship, instead they may organise a world cup, or they may organize both. Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words. Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations such as mixed martial arts, boxing and wrestling.

Certain sports do not have a world championships or a world cup as such, but may have one or several world champions. Professional boxing for example has several world champions at different weights, but each one of them is decided by a "title fight", not a tournament.

Sports[link]

A full list is presented at List of world cups and world championships

• Air sports:
  • World Aerobatic Championships
  • World Gliding Championships
• American football: IFAF World Cup
• Athletics: IAAF World Championships in Athletics
• Aquatics: FINA World Aquatics Championships
• Auto-Racing:
  • FIA Formula One World Championship
  • FIA World Rally Championship (WRC)
  • FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)
  • FIA GT World Championship
  • FIA World Endurance Championship
  • Motorcycle Grand Prix
• Badminton: World Badminton Championships
• Ball games
  • Baseball
    • World Baseball Classic
  • Basketball
    • FIBA World Championship
    • FIBA World Championship for Women
  • Cricket
    • ICC Cricket World Cup
    • Women's Cricket World Cup
  • Football
    • FIFA World Cup, called Football World Championships in many languages.
    • FIFA Women's World Cup
    • FIFA Club World Cup
  • Handball
    • World Men's Handball Championship
    • World Women's Handball Championship
  • Rugby league: Rugby League World Cup
  • Rugby union:
    • Rugby World Cup
    • Women's Rugby World Cup
    • Sevens version: Rugby World Cup Sevens (men and women)
  • Softball
    • ISF Women's World Championship
  • Volleyball: Volleyball World Championship
• Bridge: World Bridge Championships
• Canoeing:
  • ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships
  • ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships
• Cross country running:
  • IAAF World Cross Country Championships
• Cycling:
  • UCI BMX World Championships
  • UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
  • UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships
  • UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
  • UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships
  • UCI Road World Championships
  • UCI Track Cycling World Championships
• Dancing
  • International DanceSport Federation World Formation dance championships
  • An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha - Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne World Irish Dancing Championships
• Darts
  • PDC World Darts Championship
  • PDC World Cup of Darts
  • PDC Women's World Championship
  • World Cricket Championship
  • BDO World Darts Championship
  • PDC Under-21 World Championship
• Equestrian:
  • FEI World Equestrian Games
  • Eventing World Championship
  • Show Jumping World Championships
  • Dressage World Championship
• Fencing: World Fencing Championships
• Foosball
  • Tornado World Championships of Professional Foosball

• Gymnastics: World Gymnastics Championships
• Judo: World Judo Championships
• Karatedo:
  • Kobe Osaka International World Cup
  • Karate World Championships
• Kickboxing: W.A.K.O. Amateur World Kickboxing Championships
• Lacrosse
  • World Lacrosse Championship
  • World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
  • Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships
• Marbles: British and World Marbles Championship
• Offshore Powerboating
  • Class 1 World Powerboat Championship
• Rink Hockey: Rink Hockey World Championship
• Rowing: World Rowing Championships
• Sailing:
  • ISAF Sailing World Championships
  • 470 World Championships
  • 49er World Championships
  • Elliott 6m World Championships
  • Europe World Championships
  • Finn World Championships
  • Laser World Championships
  • Laser 4.7 World Championships
  • Laser Radial World Championships
  • Star World Championships
  • Windsurfing World Championships
• Snooker: World Snooker Championship
• Speedway:
  • Speedway Grand Prix (formerly: Speedway World Championship)
  • Speedway World Cup (U-21)
• Track and Field: World Championships in Athletics
• Winter Sports:
  • Alpine skiing: Alpine World Skiing Championships
  • Bandy: Bandy World Championships, Bandy World Championships for women
  • Biathlon: Biathlon World Championships
  • Bobsleigh: FIBT World Championships
  • Curling: World Curling Championships
  • Figure Skating: World Figure Skating Championships
  • Ice Hockey: Ice Hockey World Championships
  • Luge:
    • FIL World Luge Championships
    • FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships
  • Nordic Skiing: FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
  • Skeleton: FIBT World Championships
  • Speed Skating: Several, see overview at World championships speed skating
• Amateur Boxing
  • AIBA: World Amateur Boxing Championships
• Amateur Wrestling:
  • FILA: FILA Wrestling World Championships
• Professional Wrestling:

Most successful athlete in each sport[link]

In this table includes the medals in both individual and team events. In PaleGreen still active athletes.

Men

Category	Sport	Athlete	Born				Tot.	Ref.
Bicycle racing	Cycling (road)	Fabian Cancellara [1]	1981	4	0	2	6
		Óscar Freire	1976	3	0	1	4
		Eddy Merckx	1945
		Rik Van Steenbergen	1924-2003
		Alfredo Binda	1902-1986
	Cycling (track)	Arnaud Tournant	1978	14	3	2	19
	BMX racing	Randy Stumpfhauser	1977	4	5	3	12
	Mountain bike racing	Julien Absalon	1980	4	1	1	6
Combat sports	Boxing	Félix Savón	1967	6	1	0	7
	Judo	Naoya Ogawa	1968	4	0	3	7
	Taekwondo	Steven López	1978	5	0	0	5
	Wrestling	Aleksandr Karelin [2]	1967	9	0	0	9
Motor sports	Formula One	Michael Schumacher	1969	7	2	3	12
	Motorboat racing	Guido Cappellini	1959	10	2	2	14	[3]
	Motorcycle racing	Giacomo Agostini	1942	15	5	1	21
	Motocross	Stefan Everts	1972	10	4	1	13	[4]
	Rallying	Sébastien Loeb	1974	8	1	0	9
Roller sports	Inline speed skating	Chad Hedrick	1977	50	14	4	68	[5]
	Roller artistic skating	Roberto Riva	1986	10	1	0	11	[6]
Water sports	Swimming	Michael Phelps	1985	26	6	1	33
	Diving	Greg Louganis	1960	5	0	0	5
	Canoe sprint	Ivan Patzaichin	1974	9	4	9	22
	Rowing	Daniele Gilardoni	1976	11	1	1	13	[7]
	Sailing	Paul Elvstrøm	1928	11	2	2	15	[8]
Winter sports	Alpine skiing	Kjetil André Aamodt	1971	5	4	3	12
	Biathlon	Ole Einar Bjørndalen	1974	18	11	9	38
	Bobsleigh	Eugenio Monti	1928-2003	9	1	0	10	[9]
	Skeleton	Gregor Stähli	1968	4	3	3	10
	Luge	Armin Zöggeler	1974	6	5	5	16
	Cross-country skiing	Bjørn Dæhlie	1967	10	5	4	19
	Ski jumping	Janne Ahonen	1977	5	3	2	10
	Nordic combined	Bjarte Engen Vik	1971	5	3	0	8	[10]
	Freestyle skiing	Edgar Grospiron	1969	3	0	0	3
	Snowboarding	Jasey Jay Anderson	1968	4	0	0	4
	Figure skating	Ulrich Salchow	1877-1949	11	3	0	14
	Speed skating	Sven Kramer	1986	16	1	2	19	[11]
	Short track speed skating	Ahn Hyun-Soo	1985	20	11	4	35	[12][13]
Olympic sports	Athletics	Carl Lewis	1961	8	1	1	10	[14]
	Archery	Richard McKinney	1953	3	0	0	3
	Artistic Gymnastics	Vitaly Scherbo	1972	12	7	4	23
	Badminton	Park Joo-bong	1964	5	0	2	7
	Equestrian	Reiner Klimke [15]	1936-1999	6	0	0	6	[16]
	Fencing	Aladár Gerevich	1910-1991	14	1	3	18
	Shooting	Konrad Stäheli	1866-1931	41	17	10	67	[17]
	Table tennis	Victor Barna	1911-1972	22	7	12	41
	Tennis [18]	Ivan Lendl	1960	5	4	3	11
	Triathlon	Simon Lessing	1971	4	2	1	7
	Weightlifting	Naim Süleymanoğlu	1967	7	1	0	8
Team sports	Baseball	Pedro Luis Lazo	1973	7	2	0	3
	Basketball	Krešimir Ćosić	1948-1995	2	2	0	4
	Beach volleyball	Emanuel Rego	1973	2	1	0	3
	Curling	Randy Ferbey	1959	4	1	0	5
	Field hockey	Akhtar Rasool	1954	3	1	0	4	[19]
	Handball	Cornel Oțelea	1940	3	0	1	4
	Ice Hockey	Vladislav Tretiak	1914-1992	10	1	2	13
	Soccer	Pelè	1942	3	0	0	3
	Volleyball	Marco Bracci Andrea Gardini Andrea Giani Ferdinando De Giorgi	1966 1965 1970 1961	3	0	0	0
	Waterpolo	Salvador Gómez Jesús Rollán	1968 1968-2006	2	2	0	4

Games[link]

A fuller list can be found on the List of world championships in mind sports page.

• World chess championship

Performing[link]

• World Championships of Performing Arts

Eating[link]

• World Pie Eating Championship
• Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

References[link]

See also[link]

• List of world championships

External links[link]

• Sports results
• Sports history