World Yo-Yo Contest Logo (2006)
The World Yo-Yo Contest (also known as Worlds or WYYC for short) is a contest held every year and it was organized by Infinite Illusions' Greg Cohen up until 2013.
Currently, the International Yo-Yo Federation has taken over the contest and is now being held every year between Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Historically, from 2001 to 2013, the contest was held at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida on the first weekend of every August. At the end of the contest, seven yo-yoers leave with the title "World Yo-Yo Champion" in their division (A, AA, AAA, FH, OS, Artistic Performance (AP), and Combined (CB))
History
In 1932, the very first World Yo-Yo Contest was held in England, where Harvey Lowe won the title of World Champion.
Although other, similar contests were held before 1932 were claimed to be "World Championships", they were sponsored by specific manufacturers to run as promotions for their products and are not generally recognized as genuine world contests.
In 1950, Cheerio held a large North American contest, which was not considered a world contest, yet one of the winners was known to refer to himself as a "World Champion".
In 1962, Duncan had 32 demonstrators on the road whom it claimed were "World Yo-Yo Champions", of which many had never actually entered any yo-yo contest in their careers.
In 1972, a yo-yo contest referred to as the "World Yo-Yo Championship" was held in Toronto, Canada, where it was won by professional yo-yo demonstrator Bunny Martin. However, this was not a genuine world contest.
In 1992, Dale Oliver brought back the World Yo-Yo Contest in its current format, with the first running held at the 1992 International Jugglers' Association (IJA) convention in Montreal, Canada.
In 1999, the World Yo-Yo Contest was held in Honolulu, Hawaii by High Performance Kites in collaboration with Bandai.
Since 2000, the World Yo-Yo Contest was run by Greg Cohen in Orlando, Florida, USA. In 2013, the World Yo-Yo Contest committee announced the contest would be taken over by the then-newly-formed International Yo-Yo Federation and the contest would move between the Americas, Europe and Asia each year. Considering that there were those within the community who wished for the contest to be held in places with more exposure than at the Rosen Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom in Orlando, Florida, this was readily accepted.
The 2014 contest took place in Prague, Czech Republic, the 2015 contest was held in Tokyo, Japan, and in 2016, it was held in Cleveland, Ohio in the United States. The cycle of where the contest would be held would repeat between Europe, Asia, and the United States. In this way, the World Yo-Yo Contest could truly be considered an international competition.
In November 2015, it was announced on YoYoNews that the 2017 World Yo-Yo Contest would be held and hosted in Reykjavik, Iceland. The 2018 Worlds will be held in Shanghai, China. It is announced that the 2019 World Yo-Yo Contest would be held in Cleveland, Ohio, marking the second time that the contest would be held there in three years since the 2016 contest.
Current Champions (2018 - Shanghai, China)
- 1A - Evan Nagao
- 2A - Shu Takada
- 3A - Hajime Miura
- 4A - Hajime Miura
- 5A - Sora Ishikawa
- AP - OLD SKOOL FAMOUS
- Women's Division - Xiao Wen Wang
- Over 40 Division - Koji Torita
Past Champions
2017 - Reykjavik, Iceland
- 1A - Shion Araya
- 2A - Shu Takada
- 3A - Hajime Miura
- 4A - Rei Iwakura
- 5A - Takuma Inoue
- AP - inmot!on (GrandPrix and Entertainment Award)
- Women's Division - Tessa Piccillo
- Over 40 Division - Steve Brown
2016 - Cleveland, Ohio
- 1A - Shion Araya
- 2A - Shu Takada
- 3A - Hajime Miura
- 4A - Rei Iwakura
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - Tommy (Artistic Award), OLD SKOOL FAMOUS (Entertainment Award)
- Women's Division - Beatriz Gallegos Garcia
- Over 40 Division - Takahiko Hasegawa
2015 - Tokyo, Japan
- 1A - Zach Gormley
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Hajime Miura
- 4A - Naoto Onishi
- 5A - Jake Elliott
- AP - SHAQLER (Entertainment Award and GrandPrix), Beat Poin't (Artistic Award), WHO Theatre (Creativity Award)
- Women's Division - Xiao-Wen Wong A.K.A. "Hobbit"
- Over 40 Division - Kiyoshi Kawamura
2014 - Prague, Czech Republic
- 1A - Gentry Stein
- 2A - Takuma Yamamoto
- 3A - Hajime Miura
- 4A - Rei Iwakura
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - SPINATION (GrandPrix and Artistic Award), Tuan Chin-Min (Creativity Award)
- Women's Division - Tessa Piccillo
2013 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - János Karancz
- 2A - Takuma Yamamoto
- 3A - Hank Freeman
- 4A - Michael Nakamura
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - SPINATION
2012 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Hiroyuki Suzuki
- 2A - Shu Takada
- 3A - Hank Freeman
- 4A - Rei Iwakura
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - Jan Schmutz
2011 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Marcus Koh
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Hank Freeman
- 4A - Naoto Okada
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - Takahiko Hasegawa
2010 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Jensen Kimmitt
- 2A - Yasushi Furukawa
- 3A - Minato Furuta
- 4A - Tsubasa Onishi
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - SHAQLER
2009 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Shinya Kido
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Kentaro Kimura
- 4A - Naoto Okada
- 5A - Takuma Inoue
- AP - Rei Iwakura
- CB - Shinji Saito
2008 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - John Ando
- 2A - Takuma Yamamoto
- 3A - Hiroki Miyamoto
- 4A - Rei Iwakura
- 5A - Takeshi Matsuura
- AP - John Higby
- CB - Shinji Saito
2007 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Yuuki Spencer
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Yuki Tanami
- 4A - Eiji Okuyama
- 5A - Tyler Severance
- AP - Tomonari Ishiguro
- CB - Shinji Saito
2006 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Hiroyuki Suzuki
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Paul Yath
- 4A - Taiki Nishimura
- 5A - Dana Bennett
- AP - Yu Kawada
- CB - Shinji Saito
2005 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Hiroyuki Suzuki
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Daisuke Shimada
- 4A - John Narum
- 5A - Maya Nakamura
- AP - Takahiko Hasegawa
2004 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Hiroyuki Suzuki
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Daisuke Shimada
- 4A - Tsubasa Onishi
- 5A - Makoto Numagami
- AP - Tomiyuki Watanabe
2003 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Johnnie Delvalle
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- 3A - Daisuke Shimada
- 4A - Eiji Okuyama
- 5A - Rafael Matsunaga
- AP - Mark Montgomery
2002 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Yuuki Spencer
- 2A - Shinji Saito
- X - Daisuke Shimada
- AP - Takahiko Hasegawa
2001 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Tomonari Ishiguro
- 2A - Matt Harlow
- X - Shingo Terada
2000 - Orlando, Florida
- 1A - Yu Kawada
- 2A - Tomoya Kitamura
- X - Hironori Mii
1999 - Honolulu, Hawaii
- 1A - Joel Zink
- 2A - Takumi Nagase
1998 - Las Vegas, Nevada
- SH - Ryoichi Suzuki
- DH - Jennifer Baybrook
1997
- PRO/AM - Bill de Boisblanc
- Masters - Jason Tracy
- Advanced - John Stangle
- Novice - Ryan Zink
- Masters Freestyle - Nalukai Ho'okano
1996 - Rapid City, South Dakota
- Pro/Am - Dale Myrberg
- Masters - Dave Schulte
- Novice - Mikey McCabe
1995 - Las Vegas, Nevada
- Pro-Am Division - Bill de Boisblanc
- Masters Division - Mark Hayward
- Senior Advanced - Stuart Crump
- Junior Advanced - Jacob A. Hall
- Novice Division - Brett Jurgens
1994 - Burlington, Vermont
- CH - Bill de Boisblanc
1993 - Fargo, North Dakota
- CH - Rocco Ysaguirre
1992 - Montreal, Canada
- CH - Dale Oliver
1972 - Toronto, Canada
- Winner: Bunny Martin
1932 - England
- Winner: Harvey Lowe
Trivia
- The 2000 Worlds, which was held at the Universal Studios Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, had also marked the very first running of the World Spin Top Contest.
