Olympic Esports Series facts for kids
The Olympic Esports Series was a special event that brought together different virtual sports and video games. It was like a mini-Olympic Games for esports, organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This event gathered many players in one place, similar to how traditional sports events work.
Even though competitive video gaming, or esports, wasn't always seen as a sport, the Olympic world became interested. This interest started around 2007. Esports was even part of the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. In 2017, the IOC held a meeting to discuss esports. After an online event called the Olympic Virtual Series in 2021, the IOC decided to create the Olympic Esports Series. This was announced in November 2022. The very first event happened in Singapore in June 2023. A second event was planned for 2024, but it did not happen.
The games chosen for the Olympic Esports Series were connected to traditional Olympic sports. International sports groups helped pick the video game titles. These games included both physical sports played in a virtual world, like Zwift for cycling, and sports-based video games such as Gran Turismo. Some people criticized the event for not including popular esports games. Instead, it featured lesser-known games that represented Olympic sports.
Unlike the regular Olympic Games, players did not receive medals or diplomas. Instead, the top three players in each event received gold, silver, and bronze-colored trophies.
The IOC has decided to replace the Olympic Esports Series with the Olympic Esports Games. These new games will happen every two years. They will take place between the Summer and Winter Olympics, starting in 2027. The first Olympic Esports Games in 2027 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Exploring the History of Olympic Esports
The idea of esports joining the Olympic world has a long history. Traditional esports games like Counter-Strike, Dota, League of Legends, and Valorant were often seen as "too violent." Because of this, they were not considered for Olympic-style competitions.
Early Discussions on Esports and the Olympics
In October 2017, the IOC held a meeting to discuss esports. Another meeting, the IOC Esports Forum, happened in July 2018. However, a big challenge was that esports didn't have one main international group to manage it. This is usually required for a sport to be recognized as an Olympic sport. Also, the issue of violence in some games made the IOC hesitant to add esports to the Olympic Games.
Esports in Other Major Sporting Events
Other big sporting events have already included esports. The Asian Games, organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, and the Southeast Asian Games both recognize esports as a medal event. Esports first appeared in a major event at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games. It became a full medal event at the 2022 Asian Games, which were held in 2023.
The First Online Olympic Event: 2021 Olympic Virtual Series
When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 Summer Olympics to be postponed, the IOC launched its first online esports event. This was called the Olympic Virtual Series and took place in 2021. It included sports like baseball, cycling, motorsport, rowing, and sailing. Four of these sports were also part of the Olympic Esports Series in 2023. A second Olympic Virtual Series was planned for 2022 but was replaced by the Olympic Esports Series.
Winners of the 2021 Olympic Virtual Series Events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball home run derby |
Ryohei Osaka Japan |
Yusuke Tominaga Japan |
Hiroki Horiike Japan |
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| Baseball tournament finals |
Syoma Mori Japan |
Yoshinori Kato Japan |
Yosuke Fujimoto Japan |
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| Cycling ultimate chase race |
Alistair Brownlee Great Britain |
Lucy Charles-Barclay Great Britain |
John Kariuki Kenya |
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| Motorsport |
Valerio Gallo Italy |
Mikail Hizal Germany |
Baptiste Beauvois France |
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| Rowing |
 Colombia |
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| Sailing inshore - nacra 17 |
Arthur Farley Great Britain |
Bart Lambriex Netherlands |
Joan Cardona Spain |
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| Sailing inshore - ILCA dinghy |
Kaan Mazlumca Turkey |
Filippo Lanfranchi Italy |
Gaéten de Kat France |
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| Sailing inshore - 49er |
Lukas Mohr Denmark |
Arthur Farley Great Britain |
Tangi Le Golf France |
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| Sailing offshore |
Erik Danielsson Sweden |
Christopher Powers United States |
Luiz Carlos Bonetti Brazil |
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The 2023 Olympic Esports Week in Singapore
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| Host city | Singapore |
|---|---|
| Motto | Play Beyond Possible |
| Organisers | International Olympic Committee, Singapore National Olympic Council |
| Edition | 1st |
| Athletes | 131 from 57 nations |
| Events | 10 in 10 sports, plus 6 exhibition events across 5 video game titles |
| Opening | 22 June 2023 |
| Closing | 25 June 2023 |
| Opened by | President of Singapore Halimah Yacob |
| Main venue | Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre |
In November 2022, the IOC announced the first Olympic Esports Week. It was held in Singapore in June 2023. This event included the live finals of the 2023 Olympic Esports Series. The first nine game titles and sports were announced on March 1, 2023. A tenth event, shooting with Fortnite, was added on May 5.
Highlights of the 2023 Finals
The first Olympic Esports Series finals took place in person from June 23 to 25, 2023. They were held in Singapore at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Olympic Esports Week itself started a day earlier, on June 22, with an opening ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, both IOC president Thomas Bach and the President of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, appeared remotely. President Halimah Yacob officially opened the Olympic Esports Week in her speech. She was on a trip to Qatar at the time.
About 131 finalists from many countries competed in the Olympic Esports Week. There were ten events in ten different Olympic sports. Trophies were also given out for an eleventh event that was held completely online. The sports included archery, baseball, chess, cycling, dance, motorsport, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, and tennis. The game for each sport was suggested by its international sports group and the game's publisher. However, for Fortnite in shooting, Epic Games said they were not involved in the game's selection.
Notable Athletes and Players at the 2023 Event
Eight Olympians competed in the taekwondo event. These included Wu Jingyu from China, who won a bronze trophy. Other famous athletes were Rohullah Nikpai of Afghanistan and Aaron Cook from Great Britain.
The chess event featured nine grandmasters and one female International Master. These included Aleksei Sarana and Maksim Chigaev. This was the first IOC-approved event where Russian athletes, Chigaev and Rakhmanov, competed as "individual neutral athletes." They competed alongside a Ukrainian player, Bortnyk, after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The event attracted about 20,000 spectators to the Suntec Convention Centre over four days.
Trophy Winners of the 2023 Olympic Esports Series
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery |
Jared Montgomery United States |
David Chan United States |
Kyosuke Takebayashi Japan |
| Baseball |
Shoma Mori Japan |
Hiroki Horiike Japan |
Wang Chia-Ming Chinese Taipei |
| Chess |
Aleksey Sarana Serbia |
Maksim Chigaev Individual Neutral Athletes |
Nguyễn Ngọc Trường Sơn Vietnam |
| Cycling |
Team Fuego Martin Maertens (GER) James Barnes (RSA) Lou Bates (GBR) Marlene Bjärehed (SWE) |
Team Epic Ben Hill (AUS) Michał Kamiński (POL) Jacquie Godbe (USA) Charlotte Colclough (GBR) |
Team Lava Teppo Laurio (FIN) Lionel Vujasin (BEL) Alice Lethbridge (GBR) Kong Lam (HKG) |
| Dance |
Amandine Morisset France |
Joseph Cordero United States |
Antonino Pomilia Italy |
| Motorsport |
Kylian Drumont France |
William Murdoch Great Britain |
Angel Inostroza Chile |
| Sailing inshore |
Tim Carpentier France |
Cavan Fyans Great Britain |
Francisco Melo Portugal |
| Sailing offshore |
Baptiste Renaut France |
Xavier Coquard France |
Aurélie Martin France |
| Shooting |
Lucas Malissa Australia |
Alexander Feyzjou United States |
Andrej Piratov Latvia |
| Taekwondo |
Nigel Tan Singapore |
Natalie Tor Singapore |
Wu Jingyu China |
| Tennis |
Anass Benghazi France |
He Shenghao China |
William Foster Great Britain |
Exhibition Events at Olympic Esports Week
Besides the main ten events, the Olympic Esports Week in 2023 also had special exhibition events. These featured more traditional esports games. Examples included Rocket League, Street Fighter 6, and NBA 2K23. There were also sports-focused events like the Arena Games Triathlon and Virtual Table Tennis.
The Rocket League category had two show matches. One was for men, won by Karmine Corp. The other was for women, won by Williams Resolve. The Street Fighter 6 tournament was won by Thum Homchuen from Thailand. This tournament also featured Hajime Taniguchi, known as Tokido, a legend in the Street Fighter esports world. NBA 2K23 was a round-robin event with no official winner. Teams from the Philippines, Brazil, and Türkiye competed.
The Future: Olympic Esports Games
The Olympic Esports Series is being replaced by the Olympic Esports Games. These new games are planned to happen every two years. They will take place between the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The first Olympic Esports Games are set for 2027 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
