The 20th World Championship among men and the 11th World Championship among Women in fire and rescue sport started Sunday in capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The championship brought together more than 300 male and female competitors participating in four events that simulate real-life firefighting and rescue operations.

Alongside Saudi Arabia, national teams from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Ivory Coast, Czech Republic, UAE, Germany, Iran, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Austria join the competitions, which will run until November 1.

The contests aim to enhance participants’ physical fitness, technical readiness, and field experience. They include the hook ladder climb, 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter relay, and fire extinguishing challenge, with preliminary, semifinal, and final rounds held over four days from the start of the championship.

International Association “The International Sport Federation of Firefighters and Rescuers” was founded in 2001 by the decision of the 1st International Conference of Leaders Fire and Rescue Services and unites firefighters and rescuers from 33 countries.

Since its inception, in accordance with the goals and objectives of the Charter, with the active participation of national federations of the founding countries, the Federation has launched work on the development and propaganda of the Fire and Rescue sport.

Since 2002, under the auspices of the Federation held 15 World Championships, 3 European Cup, 2 Cup of Asia, in countries such as Germany, Russia, Korea, Czech Republic, Turkey, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and others.

In addition, since 2010 annually holds the World Championships among youth men and youth teams.

 
Shikhali Aliyev
Special correspondent