World Games 2025: Luxembourg Athletes Set Goals for Chengdu

Team Lëtzebuerg will be represented by two athletes at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China, twice as many as at the previous edition held in Birmingham, USA.

The international multi-sport event, held every four years under the auspices of the International World Games Association (IWGA) and supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will take place from Thursday 7 to Sunday 17 August 2025. The World Games feature 35 disciplines that are not (yet) part of the Olympic programme but are internationally recognised.

Luxembourg will be represented in two sports: archery and powerlifting. Mariya Klein-Shkolna will be the first athlete to compete, taking part in the women’s compound archery event on the opening day. Chronicle.lu spoke with the archer about her preparation and career highlights.

She began archery in 2010 in Ukraine at the age of twelve, inspired by her father - a former archer who later became a coach - and her older brother. The idea of competing internationally and representing her country sparked her interest: “That motivated me to train more and more to reach that goal.”

“In compound archery, unlike Olympic recurve, all competitions were self-funded, which made things difficult - especially once medals started being awarded internationally,” Mariya Klein-Shkolna explained. “We had great results between 2013 and 2015, including winning the youth European Championships and the team gold at the 2015 World Championships in Copenhagen. That was one of the highlights of my career, but it also made us realise that our sport wasn’t prioritised in Ukraine because it wasn’t part of the Olympic programme.”

She continued: “I received an offer from the Polish Archery Federation and decided to accept it to continue both studying and competing, this time for Poland. But since 2015, I had already been in a relationship with Pit Klein, who competed for Luxembourg - and in 2018, I moved to Luxembourg.”

Klein-Shkolna explained that her preparation for the World Games in Chengdu had been difficult, largely due to time constraints and the challenge of balancing work and training. She noted that, unlike during her qualification phase, this time there had been “practically no real preparation” and training sessions were limited to whenever her schedule allowed.

She also referred to recent competitions, including the World Cups in Antalya and Madrid, which marked her return to form following earlier health issues and a month-long training break

Looking ahead to Chengdu, she stated: “A top-eight finish would be a perfect day - and from there it’s very close to the top four.”

Mariya Klein-Shkolna added that earlier this year, compound archery was officially included in the Olympic programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. “The level of competition will only increase, and the number of professional athletes will grow,” she noted.

The Grand Duchy’s second representative will be Ankie Timmers in powerlifting, competing in the Women’s Super Heavyweight category on the final day of the competition, Sunday 17 August 2025. The 38-year-old athlete has previously competed at the World Games three times. She told Chronicle.lu that, unfortunately, she does not expect to be in medal contention this time due to recent circumstances.

“Well, the knee surgery was necessary and could not wait until after the World Games. The risk was too big for more damage in the knee,” said Ankie Timmers, explaining why she will not be able to perform at her best in Chengdu. She added: “I still will compete but squat and deadlift are affected too much with the surgery so I cannot make a big result this time. With bench press, my goal is to break the national record (200 kg) so that at least I come home with a nice result.”

This will mark Ankie Timmers’ first appearance at the World Games representing Luxembourg, having previously competed under the Dutch flag. “I am really proud that I am able to compete for Luxembourg. I really love the country, the people, and most of all I feel home here,” she said.

Over the course of her career, Timmers has earned multiple podium finishes at international competitions, including two world championship titles, and was named 2019 European Powerlifter of the Year.

At the previous edition of the World Games in 2022 in Birmingham, Timmers delivered a strong performance, setting a personal best of 237.5 kg in the squat and placing fourth overall - just shy of a podium finish. Reflecting on this year’s competition in Chengdu, she acknowledged: “My focus will be on being part of the event, as achieving a strong result will not be possible. I accept it for myself, but it was really hard. This time I really had chances for a medal, but health is the most important.”

(Credit: COSL)