The Fourth World Military Games were opened by the Indian President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil in Hyderabad, on October 14th,2007. About 6000 athletes from 106 countries took part in the sporting extravaganza, which boasted a total of 1076 medals in different games and sports. The 13 disciplines included Pentathlon, Shooting, Parachuting, Athletics, Triathlon, Swimming, Sailing, Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Football, Handball and Volleyball. Hockey and Kabbadi were canceled due to lack of participation. This is the first time these games are taking place outside of Europe. The games are considered to be the second biggest sporting event after the Olympics.
Bravo, the dancing bison is chosen to be the mascot for the games. True to its dramatic style, Bravo descended from the skies along with a team of skydivers and landed before a dais on which a few military officials and state ministers were present.
The Conseil International du Sport Militaire, or CISM founded in 1948, is best described as the military equivalent of the International Olympic Committee or IOC. The CISM World Military Games debuted in Rome in 1995 and are held every four years, a year before the Olympics. They were hosted by Zagreb, Croatia in 1999 and by Catania, Italy in 2003. Brazil will host the next CISM World Military Games in 2011.