A speedskater from Argentina competes in the 200M sprint races in the 2022 World Games at the retired Powell Steam Plant in Birmingham, Ala.Dennis Pillion

This Sunday afternoon I met the Ukrainian acrobatic gymnastics team at a Starbucks located inside of a Target.

I was standing in the check-out line buying groceries, when I noticed the group of five athletes in unmistakable yellow team Ukraine jerseys and blue shorts at the front of the store. They had a small entourage of World Games officials and onlookers who stopped by to welcome them to Birmingham and wish them well.

Ukraine has been the toast of the World Games all week, leading the medal count as of Monday morning and receiving special ovations during the opening ceremony, and getting the most cheers inside chain coffee shops inside big-box retail stores.

A woman held her infant up to meet the athletes and let them know that the family was cheering for them in the competitions this week. Welcome to the weird, wild world of Birmingham during the World Games 2022.

I introduced myself as a journalist and tried to ask them how their time in Alabama was going so far. There was a bit of a language barrier as they lined up for a group photo instead, but I took the picture anyway.

Members of the Ukrainian acrobatic gymnastics team visit the Starbucks coffee shop inside Target on Lakeshore Drive in Homewood, Ala. during the 2022 World Games, held in Birmingham.Dennis Pillion

Eventually I learned they were the Ukrainian acrobatic gymnastics team and had arrived the night before from their war-torn country about 5,500 miles away to compete in the games. Dima (short for Dimitri) Lovusov, said the team had enjoyed its short time in the USA so far.

“We see a little, just a little, because we arrived here yesterday night, and we had little time here but the city is so beautiful,” Lovusov said. “We look at churches and a beautiful street, it’s amazing.”

The random Starbucks sighting is something repeating across Birmingham this week, as the city rolls out its welcome wagon for thousands of athletes, coaches and officials from 63 countries.

Dima may have been just being polite, or using the only English words he knew, but it’s hard to think that the city isn’t making a good impression on its visitors from all over the world, even south of Homewood on I-65 who haven’t ventured downtown in a while.

Just before the Target run, my wife and I walked down the recently completed CityWalk Bham, past the vendor tents that hadn’t opened yet (it wasn’t quite 11 a.m.) and checked out the new skate park and pickleball courts and walking path. At least two dozen skaters were making use of the main skate park and the adjoining roller rink, with several spectators watching from the sidelines.

You can tell almost instantly which people were there from the United States and which ones weren’t. For the athletes, team jerseys that read Chinese Taipei or Finland, are a dead giveaway, and it’s got to be one of the rare moments in Birmingham’s recent history where you’re more likely to see the flag of Finland than the Bass Pro Shops logo.

Mayor Randall Woodfin strolled by wearing his own Ukraine jersey, shaking hands with passers-by and talking about how impressive the new CityWalk and skate park were. Most of the skaters didn’t appear to be there for the World Games, they were just there, taking advantage of the city’s newest attraction.

We walked the full length of CityWalk with a detour past the new Protective Stadium where the drone racing competition was about to begin. Within the course of about 28 hours and four city blocks, visitors could see sumo wrestling, drone racing and a Lupe Fiasco concert and maybe play some pickleball in between.

Anyone who remembers the area under Birmingham’s interstate bridges as a glass-strewn health hazard with trucks thundering on aging roadways overhead would be amazed at the transformation.

At the west end of CityWalk, we stopped for some exercise on the new equipment, including monkey bars, parallel bars and a few items I honestly didn’t recognize. I strained my shoulder trying to hoist myself up to the bars and realized I’m not aging as well as the city.

We didn’t actually go into any events on Sunday, but in a way we didn’t need to. Birmingham still had the air of a city of the world more than a city of the South, and was filled with locals looking to experience new and different cultures, events and sports and to reflect the famous Southern hospitality back to the world.

On Friday, I’d braved the heat for the first round of speed skating at the old Powell Steam Plant, a shuttered coal-fired power plant that is being redeveloped into an Alamo Drafthouse.

Colombia's Geiny Carmela Pajaro Guzman takes a victory lap after winning the 200m women's speed skating event in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Ala.Dennis Pillion

What could be more emblematic of Birmingham than a former industrial site being turned into an upscale movie theater that will serve dinner and drinks along with the latest blockbuster hits?

The change may not all be good, depending on your point of view, but Birmingham is changing and now seems to be a city with a vision for itself as something more than its past.

That Friday morning was scorching hot, and the crowd in the butt-searing bleachers was a bizarre blend of people for whom speedskating is everything, and those who probably did not know international inline speed skating existed until they bought their tickets.

A female skater from Spain sat in the grandstand, still wearing her competition gear, talking with her family in Spanish about her performance in the prelims next to a group of 20-somethings from Alabama debating the best meals available at the two food trucks inside the venue.

Crowds brave 90-degree temperatures to watch speed skating at the World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Ala.Dennis Pillion

During the races, coaches and spectators shouted encouragements in a bevy of languages that I couldn’t quite identify, despite my 150-day streak on Duolingo.

In between heats (though there was no intermission from THE heat), spectators, volunteers, and those without all-access lanyards sought shade wherever it could be found, alongside the tents, even sitting on the ground on the edge of the barricade that encircles the track. There was shade there, but only if you get lower than the roughly 4′ barricades.

On the outskirts of the track, tents were set up for the athletes with giant ice coolers. A skater from Argentina lazed on the ground atop a white towel as four Birmingham firefighters carried a huge plastic tub full of ice to the medical tent for the athletes.

The sidelines were mostly open to spectators, so you could walk almost all the way around the track and watch the athletes warm-up and stretch from a few feet away. A speed-skater from Chile with impressive tattoos across his impressive quads jogged back and forth and gave a few standing vertical leaps as I stood flat-backed against the barricade to stay out of the way.

In the bleachers, Jennifer Croker and David Redden sat cheering on the women’s sprint finals during a break from their jobs at UAB’s School of Public Health. They’re not speed skating buffs but came to check out the international sporting competitions happening just a few blocks away from their offices.

“These are world-class athletes and it’s inspiring,” Croker said. “It’s a unique opportunity and to have it right here in your backyard is really special.”

Redden said his daughters were excited to see the ballroom dancing and wheelchair rugby competitions coming up later in the games.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Redden said.

Later that night, at floorball at the BJCC, the crowd seemed to share that sense of wonder.

Thailand (blue) takes on Switzerland in the World Games 2022 floorball competition in Birmingham, Ala. at the BJCC East Exhibition Hall.Dennis Pillion

Floorball is a type of indoor hockey with no skates, where teams of five players plus a goalie try to fling wiffle balls into a goal. The ball frequently flies into the crowd, but after being struck by one on the leg, I can verify it doesn’t hurt.

“We ain’t never seen anything like this before,” said one man who was seated on the front row for Switzerland vs. Thailand.

The Swiss team brought its own cheering section, which appeared to be comprised of athletes from other sports.

Aly Bulger of Birmingham, seated in the second row, cheered for Thailand because they were the underdog and because she’d been there once.

“I want to let all the athletes know that the whole city is cheering for them, not just Team USA,” she said. “I wanted to come to the more obscure sports and support those athletes and just learn more.”

She and her group said they’re planning to see the closing ceremonies for sure and whatever catches their eye on the remaining days of the competitions.

“I think it’s just going to be day-by-day,” Bulger said. “Wake up, look at the event schedule, see what’s going on and go from there.”

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