World Skate Games 2026, Italy in Paraguay as defending champions

ODYTA Summary

The 2026 World Skate Games are set to take place in Asunción, Paraguay, with Italy's national team aiming to defend the title it won two years ago. At the home World Championships, the Azzurri topped the overall medal table with 31 golds and 97 total medals. The event was inaugurated with an opening ceremony at the Paraguayan Olympic Committee sports center, featuring choreography, music, and entertainment, with over 10,000 athletes and thousands of spectators in attendance. Among the authorities present were Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios, Paraguayan Olympic Committee President Camilo Jorge Pérez López Moreira, and Skate Italia and World Skate President Sabatino Aracu. The World Skate Games were established by World Skate in 2017 with the vision of uniting the world of skating and roller sports into a single major event. The inaugural edition in Nanjing, China, marked the beginning of a new era, bringing together various roller disciplines on one international stage. After editions in Barcelona 2019, Buenos Aires 2022, and Italy 2024, the WSG have become the main international meeting point for roller disciplines, combining sport, urban culture, and Olympic spirit. World Skate President Sabatino Aracu thanked Asunción and Paraguay for their work, noting that President Santiago Peña Palacios and Camilo Pérez believed in the project from the start. The event in Paraguay features record numbers: 11 sports, 40 disciplines, over 90 participating countries, and more than 10,000 athletes, running until October 18. The Italian team arrives with a full delegation of 540 athletes and 100 support staff, including technical and medical personnel. The Games showcase the full spectrum of roller sports, from established traditions to new urban sports, with stars like Rayssa Leal, Keegan Palmer, and Yuto Horigome having brought these disciplines to a global audience. The 11 sports at WSG ASU26 are skateboarding, inline freestyle, roller hockey, roller freestyle, artistic skating, skate cross, slalom, downhill, inline hockey, scootering, and speed skating.