Going for Gold in Malaga

Going for Gold in Malaga

The games were fantastic for all that came to watch

Malaga played host to the 21^st edition of the World Transplant Games this year, putting it firmly in the spotlight. 2,300 athletes from across 50+ countries competed in the city in 17 sporting events held across 11 venues across the capital city of the Costa del Sol. 

The games are organised by the World Transplant Games Federation and recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The Malaga games mark the first time ever that the games have taken place in Spain. It’s very fitting that the games were held in Malaga. Spain is recognised as being the world leader of transplants – with some 4,818 transplant operations performed last year – and Andalucia had more organ donors in 2016 than the national average of the country. Andalucia has 47.1 donors per million people. The famous Carlos Haya regional Hospital of Malaga performed the most kidney transplants in Spain last year, with 173. 

There are even more milestones for the latest Transplant Games including that this year’s games are the first time that organ donors and their families will be competing against athletes that have received organ donations; with ages ranging between just four years old to eighty. All of these athletes have had a life-saving transplant operation.

The Transplant Games cover a range of sporting events including cycling, track and field, swimming, golf, tennis, and more. This year saw the introduction of kayaking and padel tennis as events. 

The games are held once every two years, with the first ever edition of the Transplant Games was held in 1978 in Portsmouth in the UK. 99 athletes from across France, Greece, Germany, the US and the UK gathered for the event.