Cycling will be featured in the inaugural Olympic Esports Series
IOC announced new competition, along with 8 other events
On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the Olympic Esports Series. The competition is global virtual and simulated sports event that is being held in conjunction with IOC, international sporting federations, and game publishers.
Both pros and amateur esports players are competing in qualification rounds in the nine featured games.
Ask a pro: Derek Gee on warming up for time trials, and Zwift races
After the preliminary events, the competitors will take part in live, in-person finals at the first-ever Olympic Esports Week from June 22-25, 2023 in Singapore.
Each sport has an accompanying video game. Cycling will use the popular platform Zwift.
Here are the games that will be included:
Archery – Tic Tac Bow
Baseball – WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros
Chess – Chess.com
Cycling – Zwift
Dance – Just Dance 2023
Motorsport – Gran Turismo 7
Sailing – Virtual Regatta
Taekwondo – Virtual Taekwondo
Tennis – Tennis Clash
Video games are of course, very popular, but in-person gaming as a “sporting” event is something that can draw huge crowds. In North America, the biggest venue is the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas. It can hold up to 2,5000 people who love to watch gamers. In Las Vegas, the HyperX Esports Arena is a massive space dedicated to non-gamers who want to watch others play on giant LED screens. South Korea has several areas for spectators to watch gamers, including the famous Nexon Arena in Seoul.
Does this new series mean that esports could be in the Olympics someday? Although the word “Olympics” is in the event’s name, it is still a long way away from the actual games held every four years.
Then again, if you told someone ten years ago that millions of people around the world would be “racing” their bikes inside, online, you’d probably laugh and say, that’s ridiculous! That will never happen…
