Cayman’s flag teams can focus on Olympic dreams

Flag football is one of the most popular sports played in the Cayman Islands so sports fans will be inspired by the fact that it will make its debut at the next Olympics in 2028.

Mexico won their second straight World Games gold medal in women’s flag football Saturday night, defeating Team USA in the championship game 26-21 on a buzzer-beating touchdown pass from Diana Flores to Victoria Chavez in Chengdu, China.

Flag football will debut at the Olympics in 2028, with speculation already building over which NFL players will suit up for the American men’s team.

The women’s final was a thriller. The two teams traded leads throughout, with Team USA scoring to take a 21-20 lead with just 28 seconds left. But the Americans were called for two penalties on Mexico’s final drive to give Mexico 15 yards on a field that’s only 50 yards long.

Mexico have now beaten Team USA in back-to-back World Games finals. The 2022 World Games championship in Birmingham wasn’t even close winning 39-6.

Mexico were the best throughout, conceding just 78 points during the entire tournament, while Team USA allowed 77 just in the group stage. The two teams played three mutual opponents: Canada, China, and Italy. Team USA beat those teams by 56; Mexico beat them by 91.

Superior defence helped Canada beat Austria 38-20 to claim third place and their first piece of World Games hardware in flag football.