After six days of competition in Richmond, Virginia, the 2019 WFDF World Overall Flying Disc Championships concluded with the crowning of a new champion in the Open division, and a repeat champion in the Women’s division.
The USA finished atop the medal count with 38 medals (19 gold, 11 silver, and 11 bronze), while Chinese Taipei finished second with 27 (6 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze), and Sweden finished third with 19 (9 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze).
Sam Kaye from Virginia, USA won his first ever World Overall title and Juliana Korver from California, USA won her fourth straight World Overall title. In the Juniors division, En-hsuan Chang from Chinese Taipei and Ellie Cymrot from the USA won their first ever World Overall titles in Open and Women’s, respectively.
“The World Overall Championship is the test of an athlete’s complete flying disc skills, and it has been viewed as the pinnacle of the sport going back to the 1970s,” stated WFDF President Robert “Nob” Rauch. “This championship event tests core throwing skills, knowledge of the wind, disc control, power, teamwork, and athleticism, and it was all on display over the entire week in Richmond.”
The WOC event, held every other year, is the official WFDF championship contesting seven individual and pairs events, including the disc sports disciplines of Accuracy, Distance, Disc Golf, Discathon, Double Disc Court (DDC), Freestyle, and Self-Caught Flight (SCF). A total of 118 athletes from four countries and three continents competed from 8-13 July 2019 in Richmond, VA, USA, at various venues including the Bryan Park Disc Golf Course, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Cary Street field and gym, Richmond Strikers West Creek Complex, Chesterfield County’s Huguenot Park, and Forest Hill Park. This year’s event was run by Jack Cooksey, with assistance from Sam Kaye, Jason Koonts, and Phil Pollack, and the support of Richmond Region Tourism.
During the event, there were several World Records broken. The World Records included:
- U19 Junior Open Accuracy (19/28) – Chien-hua Tseng (TPE)
- O70 Open Accuracy (15/28) – Paul Thompson (USA)
- O70 Open Accuracy (16/28) – Michael Conger (USA)
- O65 Open Accuracy (18/28) – Harvey Brandt (USA)
- O65 & O70 Open Mini Accuracy (5/28) – Paul Thompson (USA)
- U16 Junior Open SCF (114.46) – Edvin Almqvist (SWE)
- O45 Women TRC (40m) – Juliana Korver (USA)
- O45 Women TRC (41m) – Niloofar Mosavar Rahmani (SWE)
- O65 Open TRC (51m) – Harvey Brandt (USA)
Daily highlight videos were created each day which showcased the disciplines, venues, players, and competition. These are available on WFDF’s YouTube (www.youtube.com/WFDFChannel) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/WorldFlyingDisc) channels or in this Youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rtmwm5uX6s&list=PLsPmgUCeVgQHbtB8e7hL6b7WMYyK9R-IC.
“The tournament staff and volunteers, along with the incredible venues for the events, set a new standard on how an Overall event should be run, despite the humidity and temperatures consistently above 30 degrees Celsius over the week,” said WFDF board member and Overall Chair Robert McLeod. “Jack Cooksey and his entire crew were on top of everything including adjusting to an indoor venue for Freestyle when the weather made the outdoor turf unplayable. Along with the daily highlight videos that were produced, the Overall disciplines have been introduced to a new audience, both online and in person, and I’m excited for the potential of the Overall event moving forward.”