The Paris Olympic bid committee is discussing the possibility of including competitive video games as a medal-worthy sport in the 2024 summer Olympic Games.
According to the Associated Press, the committee’s co-president Tony Estanguet has plans to meet with both eSports representatives and the International Olympic Committee to discuss the potential inclusion of eSports in the 2024 Olympic Games.
The Paris Olympic committee isn’t the first athletics-facing organization to make a case for bringing eSports into the fold. Just this past April, the Olympic Council of Asia announced plans to count three competitive video games as medal-eligible sports during the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Now, Estanguet has proposed the addition of eSports the 2024 Olympic Games, partially in a bid to keep the historic event relevant for the current generation.
“We have to look at it because we can’t say, ‘It’s not us. It’s not about Olympics. The youth, yes they are interested in [eSports] and this kind of thing,” said Estanguet in an interview with the AP. “Let’s look at it. Let’s meet them. Let’s try if we can find some bridges.”
“I don’t want to say ‘no’ from the beginning. I think it’s interesting to interact with the [International Olympic Committee], with them, the eSports family, to better understand what the process is and why it is such a success.”