The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States are now scheduled to take place from July 7 to 17 2022, with organisers naming the event The World Games 2022 Birmingham.

“After careful consideration, we are excited to move forward as The World Games 2022,” said Nick Sellers, chief executive of the Birmingham Organising Committee. 

“Ultimately, we wanted to ensure consistency and brand recognition for our event.

"But more than that, our hope is that The World Games 2022 will stand for something more than a date on the calendar - that it will become a time of reconnection for our community and the world.”

The decision to adopt the name, which was made after discussion with the Birmingham Organising Committee and International World Games Association (IWGA) is in contrast to the stance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who retained the name Tokyo 2020 after postponing the Olympic Games until 2021.

“The excellent relationship between the BOC, the City of Birmingham and the IWGA ensured the quick move of the 11th edition of The World Games to 2022," said IWGA chief executive Joachim Gossow.

"The flexible organisational structure of the event and our teams makes it easier to manage such a challenge in such a short time: we trust each other and know that we can lean on each other. 

"These are the reasons that we could go back so quickly to our participating federations and partners, confirming for them the new dates for the Games, and also for accommodation, venues and services."

As part of the rebrand, The World Games 2022 Birmingham today also unveiled its new website and logo.

The World Games 2022 Birmingham is a multi-sport event that attracts 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries.

The new name of The World Games 2022 Birmingham is very similar to the name of the next edition of the Commonwealth Games, which takes place in Birmingham in England, and will be known as Birmingham 2022.

The reshuffle of the sporting calendar has been caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 2.5 million people and led to more than 181,000 deaths globally.

First to be postponed was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, moved back almost 12 months.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are now scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8 2021.

This caused the postponement of The World Games 2022 Birmingham because of a clash with the new dates of Tokyo 2020.

The World Games 2022 Birmingham will now take place from July 7 to 17 2022 with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games taking place from July 27 to August 7 2022.

Some Olympic sports have also moved their World Championships back to 2022 to avoid a clash or taking place in close proximity to Tokyo 2020.