7.8.2004

The Finnish Flying Disc Association and the World Flying Disc Federation today announced the final placements for the Ultimate & Guts Championships (WUGC) held in Turku, Finland, July 31 – August 7, 2004.

The WUGC – held once every four years – is an elite international competition drawing more than 75 Ultimate Frisbee and Guts teams from 23 nations and 6 continents.  Participating countries sent Ultimate teams for competition in up to 6 divisions; Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, Juniors (under 20) Boys & Junior Girls. Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden and the USA sent a team in every division. Six countries also competed in the flying disc sport of Guts.

Medalists, by division:

Open: Gold – Canada, Silver – United States, Bronze – Australia
Women's: Gold – Canada, Silver –Finland, Bronze – United States
Mixed: Gold – United States, Silver – Canada, Bronze – New Zealand
Masters: (30+ years old): Gold – United States, Silver – Canada, Bronze – Great Britain
Junior Open: Gold – United States, Silver – Canada, Bronze  – Germany
Junior Women: Gold – Canada, Silver – United States, Bronze  – Sweden
Guts: Gold – Japan 1, Silver – Republic of China, Bronze – Japan 2

For complete results, team profiles, and a full list of participating countries, please visit www.wugc2004.org.

The WUGC 2004 was the largest competition of its kind in the world.  1500 players competed in a record 393 games over seven days. The tournament’s innovative scorekeeping system featured real-time updating of final match scores via mobile phones.  This system was necessary as the tournament took place simultaneously on 18 fields in Turku, Kaarina and Raisio.

This WUGC is the qualifying event for the best 6 national associations to enter The World Games 2005 in Germany. The qualification is based on a country’s three best results from these Worlds’ six divisions.

The following countries have qualified for next year’s World Games (exact points depend on today’s games): Canada (42-44 pts.), USA (42-43 pts.), Australia (34 pts.), Finland (32-33 pts.), Japan (31 pts.), Germany (host in 2005).

The World Games for Ultimate will be held July 22-24, 2005 in Duisburg, Germany, in the Wedau Sports School. See also www.frisbeesport.de/worldgames2005/ (for Ultimate matters) or www.worldgames2005.org.

Perth, Australia will host the World Ultimate Club Championships (WUCC) in2006. The WUCC is an invitational world championship for club ultimate teams, which falls every four years on an alternating schedule with the WUGC.

Ultimate is a non-contact disc sport played by two teams of seven players. The object of the game is to score goals, which is accomplished by passing the disc until it is caught by an offensive player in the end-zone of the opposing team. Ultimate combines the strategy American football and basketball, but is played at a continuous pace, much like America football or rugby. Further information on the game of Ultimate in the USA may be found at www.upa.org, or at www.wfdf.org.

The Finnish Flying Disc Association (FFDA) is the tournament host, and is the governing body for all flying disc sports in Finland. The FFDA was founded in 1978 and is a member of the Finnish Sports Federation.

The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is the recognized international governing body for the sport of Ultimate, and other disc sports. WFDF has member associations in 46 countries, and is a full member of both GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federations) and IWGA (International World Games Association).

For additional information:

World Ultimate & Guts Championships 2004 Communications

Marja Jokinen
+358 50 581 0264, marja-at-wugc2004.org

Michael Iacovella
US mobile: (201) 396 9896, mike-at-iacovella.com