The program will highlight competitions and human-interest stories from the 10th World Police and Fire Games, which brought together nearly 11,000 police officers and firefighters last summer in Barcelona, Spain.
"I think the people that were highlighted will make everyone that watches proud," said WPFG Executive Director Duke Nyhus, who created the Games to promote physical fitness and camaraderie between police officers and firefighters throughout the world.
The public safety officers came from 55 countries to participate in over 65 events, involving both individual and team sports from Olympic-style games to contests specifically created to test the participants in their field, such as shooting sports for police and a stair race for firefighters in full bunker gear.
"It shows the real output of energy that these people have - they're wasted when they're done," Nyhus said. "It's really very interesting because there's some really great athletes involved in this."
Other events run the gamut from soccer and hockey, to boxing, to tug-of-war and paintball.
Nyhus said the games began as the California Police Olympics in 1967 and evolved into the California Fire and Police Games, and then into the World Police and Fire Games, growing over the years from 500 entrants to over 10,000. The first World Games were held in 1985 in San Jose, California, and are now held every two years in varying locations. They have taken place in Australia, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada. The next Games are scheduled for the summer of 2005 in Quebec City, Canada.
"It's a great program," Nyhus said. "The interesting thing is athletes meet people and talk about their jobs with people throughout the world, and they develop camaraderie and lasting friendships. I think it's just wonderful."
The program, which is produced by the Indianapolis production company Schwoerer and Associates, will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net. All dates and times are subject to change so they recommend checking local listings.
