The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s first Olympic Esports Week is underway, and UK esports organisation Resolve have won an early showmatch there.
Resolve’s women’s Rocket League team beat G2 Luna 3-0 in a Rocket League showmatch today.
The UK roster consists of Stvn (Scottish, pictured left), Duckz (English, centre) and Crimson (English, right), plus sub player Vix (English) and coach Tadpole (Welsh).
Karmine Corp also beat Gen.G 3-0 in the men’s Rocket League showmatch.
There will also be showmatches in NBA 2K and Street Fighter 6.
UK talent and personalities at Olympic Esports Week
In terms of other UK talent and personalities at the Olympic Esports Week 2023, British Esports CEO Chester King and advisory board member and British Olympian swimmer Alice Dearing were also invited by the IOC to attend.
UK Street Fighter player The4Philzz, who secured a second-place finish for Great Britain at the Global Esports Games in Istanbul late last year, will be taking part in a Street Fighter 6 showmatch on Sunday June 25th 2023.
And Gen.G’s UK Rocket League players ApparentlyJack and Noly played in a men’s Rocket League showmatch.
Aside from this and the Resolve Rocket League women’s roster, there are the following UK players taking part:
- Will ‘Fozzy’ Foster, winner of back-to-back Roland-Garros eSeries tournaments (Tennis)
- Aaron Cook (Taekwondo)
- Cavan Fyans (Sailing)
- Will Murdoch (Motorsport – Gran Turismo)
- Charlotte Colclough (Cycling)
- Alice Lethbridge (Cycling)
- Lou Bates (Cycling)
- Mark Thurston (Archery)
Olympic Esports Week 2023 begins
Singapore 2023 officially got underway this week, following an opening ceremony which used technologies to celebrate where the physical and virtual worlds meet.
The Olympic Movement has come together in Singapore to celebrate the start of the first Olympic Esports Week, the IOC’s first festival of virtual sports and gaming, which is taking place at the Suntec Centre Singapore from June 23rd to 25th.
It’s been created in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the host country of the first Olympic Esports Week last year.
In a message delivered via hologram at the Opening Ceremony, IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed the players, saying: “The next days will be a time to make history – a celebration of the best of virtual sport and esports – a time for the players to showcase their excellence and their passion for sport. To all the players: now is your moment to shine. Always compete in the spirit of excellence, respect and fair play. Because being a true champion is about so much more than winning.”
President Bach also thanked Singapore for hosting Olympic Esports Week.
The official Opening Ceremony brought together the physical and virtual worlds, and celebrated inclusivity and diversity. Led by Creative Director Beatrice Chia-Richmond (Presplay), the ceremony included a performance by Singaporean musicians ShiGGa Shay and Aisyah Aziz, and a specially curated poem written by Adam Tie and performed by Gosteloa Spancer, accompanied by a sign language rendering by deaf performer Faaiqah.
IOC Vice-President Ser Miang Ng added: “Thank you for giving Singapore another great opportunity to co-create a stunning event with the IOC after the inaugural Youth Olympic Games Singapore 2010.
“Singapore is a country with one of the best technology and innovation ecosystems, and we are honoured to be at the centre once again of such an innovative event and exciting milestone in Olympic Esports Week, helping to bridge the gap between sports, esports and games.”
Ser Miang Ng, IOC
The IOC’s Olympic Esports Series 2023 began in March, when both professional and amateur players from across the world were invited to take part in the second edition of the IOC’s virtual sports competition, created in collaboration with International Sports Federations and game publishers. Building on the success of the Olympic Virtual Series in 2021, the number of events has already doubled, with 500,000 players entering qualification rounds and hoping to secure their place in the first finals played live in front of fans.
Olympic Esports Week 2023 schedule and games line-up
Earlier this year, the Olympic Esports Series 2023 games line-up was questioned by community.
Overall, 131 finalists have progressed to the Olympic Esports Series finals, and have been welcomed to Singapore by the local organising committee to compete on the global stage over three days, in front of fans, for gold, silver and bronze Olympic Esports Series 2023 trophies.
All the live finals action will be streamed on Olympics.com.
The full schedule and games line-up is as follows:
Friday 23: 11.00: Cycling (UCI, Zwift), 13.15: Archery (World Archery, Tic Tac Bow), 17.30: Sailing (World Sailing, Virtual Regatta), 19.45: Dance (International DanceSport Federation, Just Dance)
Saturday 24: 11.45: Baseball (WBSC eBaseball™: POWER PROS), 15.15: Chess (FIDE, Chess), 17.30: Tennis (ITF, Tennis Clash), 19.45: Shooting (ISSF Challenge featuring Fortnite)
Sunday 25: 12.00: Motorsport (Gran Turismo) 15.30: Taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo)
Those attending the event will also get to experience the latest virtual sports, gaming and esports innovations, in a specially built free-to-play zone. Ahead of the opening ceremony, industry experts were invited to share insights and ideas in the Olympic Esports Week forum, on such topics as player welfare, diversity and inclusion and online bullying.
The Olympic Esports Week 2023 is supported by Worldwide Olympic Partners including Alibaba and Samsung, and continues the IOC’s ambition to support the development of virtual sport and gaming as laid out in Olympic Agenda 2020+5.
Sport and gaming fans around the world can follow all the action on Olympics.com and Olympic social media channels between June 22nd and 25th.
Update: Olympic Esports Week 2023 winners – and how GB talent got on
- Archery: Jared ‘MontyDey’ Montgomery (USA)
- Baseball: Mori ‘Shora’ Shoma (Japan)
- Chess: Aleksei Sarana (Serbia)
- Cycling: Team Fuego: Martin Maertens (Germany), Lou Bates (Great Britain), James Barnes (South Africa), Marlene Bjärehed (Sweden)
- Dance: Dina Amandine Morisset (TheFairyDina, France)
- Motorsport – Gran Turismo: Kylian Drumont (France)
- Sailing inshore: Tim Carpentier (UOL Pepitō, France)
- Sailing offshore: Baptiste Renaut (Baptiste_REP – PVe, France)
- Shooting: Lucas Malissa (Australia)
- Taekwondo: Nigal Tan (Singapore)
- Tennis: Anass Benghazi (France)
In terms of Great Britain talent, Lou Bates was part of Team Fuego who won in cycling, William Murdoch picked up a silver medal in Gran Turismo and Cavan Fyans in sailing inshore.
Charlotte Colblough finished second in cycling, Alice Lethbridge third, and William ‘Fozzy’ Foster picked up a bronze medal in tennis.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
