Olympic Esports Events For 2023 Include Gran Turismo, Just Dance, Chess

The Olympics aren't just for traditional sports, as the International Olympics Committee announced recently that qualification for the Olympic Esports Series 2023 has begun. The events, which will culminate in the finals in Singapore in late June, will be streamed live on Olympics.com and on other social media sites.

So far, nine events have been confirmed for the Olympic Esports Series. Just Dance will represent the dance event, Chess.com will be used for the chess event, and motor sport competitors will vie for pole position in Gran Turismo 7. The other six events include archery (Tic Tac Bow), baseball (WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros), cycling (Zwift), sailing (Virtual Regatta), taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo), and tennis (Tennis Clash).

As noted by VGC, it's not clear at this point how exactly the qualification process will work for each of the separate events. We do know that the Gran Turismo 7 qualification will take place on a custom Olympic Esports Series track, which will be available in the game starting April 13. The IOC is promoting the Olympic Esports Series as its attempt to support the world of virtual sports within the greater Olympics umbrella. The first event of this kind took place in 2021 and featured only five different events.