Drone racing at The World Games: two appearances, and not on the 2029 programme.

The World Games are a multi-sport event whose programme is set by the International World Games Association (IWGA). Drone racing at both editions so far was run under the FAI, and the results on this page come from the FAI unless the text says otherwise. These results are The World Games' own titles; they are not FAI World Championship or World Cup titles, and they are never merged with any organiser's results.

Birmingham 2022

Drone racing first appeared at The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, as a mixed contest in which men and women raced together. The FAI gives the venue as Protective Stadium. The exact dates of the drone racing were not read.

The size of the 2022 field is reported differently within the FAI's own material. One FAI article gives 31 pilots, with nine women in one place and ten in another. A search summary of an FAI description from before the Games gives 32 pilots, 20 men and 12 women, from 20 countries.

Chengdu 2025

Drone racing returned at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China. The AMA reported in February 2024 that it would feature again, with the Games running from 7 to 17 August 2025. The FAI gives the drone racing as 13 to 16 August, with practice on 13 August and competition from 14 to 16 August. Wikipedia names the venue as the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Athletics Field, and the FAI's preview says the track was shaped like a panda.

The FAI's preview describes the format: preliminary rounds over three days, then the top four pilots in a final stage on 16 August, with at least two successive final races of three laps, each about two minutes. The first pilot to win two final races wins.

The FAI's news list reports that Hashimoto was named The World Games Athlete of the Day on 18 August 2025.

The 2025 field is given four ways:

• The FAI's preview of 6 August 2025: 32 pilots from 20 countries, including 13 juniors and 8 women.
• The FAI's report of 17 August 2025: 31 pilots from 19 countries.
• Wikipedia: 32 pilots from 20 nations.
• A search summary of another FAI news item: 30 qualified athletes from 21 countries; that page could not be opened.

The AMA's 2024 report said the FAI was preparing for 32 pilots.

Karlsruhe 2029: not on the programme

The IWGA published the confirmed sports programme and disciplines for The World Games 2029 in Karlsruhe, Germany, on 3 September 2026. It lists Air Sport with skydiving as its only discipline, so drone racing is not on the confirmed 2029 programme. Wikipedia also lists drone racing among the sports dropped from the previous edition.

Before that decision, the FAI said in May 2025 that it hoped to bring back skydiving and to show electric-powered drop-planes at Karlsruhe 2029. Whether drone racing could return at a later edition was not found in any source read.

Other multi-sport events

The Games of the Future Abu Dhabi 2025, a separate event run by a different organiser, included a team discipline it calls Phygital Drone Racing; Drone Racing One won, according to the organiser. It is not The World Games and not an FAI event; the detail is on other international races.

For the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan (19 September to 4 October 2026), no drone racing event was found in search results about the sports programme. The organiser's own sport list was not opened, so its absence is not confirmed.

How The World Games 2025 drone racing was streamed is on watching drone racing.