CISM delegation tours UNC Charlotte facilities as city prepares to become first U.S. host of prestigious military competition
CHARLOTTE, N.C. β International organizers from the Military World Games are in Charlotte this week, scouting locations and touring facilities as the Queen City prepares to host the 2027 games β marking the first time the prestigious competition will be held in the United States.
The International Military Sports Council, known as CISM, spent Tuesday morning examining UNC Charlotte’s athletic facilities, which are being considered to host multiple events when nearly 10,000 military athletes from around the world descend on Charlotte in summer 2027.
“Charlotte is the perfect environment to bring all the 10,000 military athletes to compete,” Colonel Nilton Rolim, CISM President, said during the campus tour.
The delegation’s visit represents a crucial step toward finalizing venue selections for the games, which will showcase both traditional Olympic sports and military-specific disciplines to a global audience.
“We want to provide a legacy to CISM, a legacy to all the CISM military member nations, the 142 nations that we have,” Rolim said.
A key component in Charlotte’s successful bid to host the games was the United States Performance Center, which serves as a training campus for U.S. athletes and provided organizers with confidence in the city’s ability to handle such a large-scale international event.
“Training the athletes and hosting the athletes prepares us for, you know, 8,000 athletes to show up to our city and prepare all of them to get ready for the games,” Ike Belk, co-founder of the United States Performance Center, said.
The facility is already positioning itself as a pre-games training destination for international teams. Dave Koerner, co-founder of the center, said they are “already in multiple conversations with countries, with having their athletes come over and prep for the games, and sports science research with the university.”
Charlotte beat out South Africa in the competitive bidding process to secure hosting rights for the 2027 Military World Games, which take place every four years and are considered the Olympics for military personnel worldwide.
The CISM delegation’s tour continues Wednesday with visits to Memorial Stadium, the U.S. National Whitewater Center and Bojangles Coliseum β all potential venues for the multi-sport competition that will feature 25 different disciplines.
The games are scheduled to take place in July 2027, with opening ceremonies expected to be held at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The event will bring together military athletes from more than 100 countries, making it one of the largest international sporting events ever held in the Charlotte region.
For Charlotte, the games represent an opportunity to showcase the city’s world-class facilities and organizational capabilities on a global stage, while leaving a lasting legacy for both the local community and international military sports.
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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