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A 14-year-old Singaporean boy beat a 14-year-old Singaporean girl to become the first Olympic Esports Series winner.
Nigel Tan faced off against Natalie Tor in an all-Singaporean grand final for the Virtual Taekwondo event, defeating her 2-1 eventually.
Unlike traditional taekwondo, the esport series does not have separate categories for male and female competitors, nor stratified weight classes.
The inaugural Olympic Esports Week was held from June 22 to 25.
Tan, an actual Taekwondo practitioner, said after the match: “I’m pretty tired from all the rounds. Natalie was super fast in the first round, but I think she got tired in the second and third. That’s when I could get my distancing and try and get some kicks in.”
When asked about replicating his results in the “real world” Olympics, the 14-year-old laughed and said, “one day, one day.”
Beat real Olympians
To finish first and second, the Singaporean duo had to overcome formidable opponents, including world and Olympic champions.
Tan had to defeat Turkey’s Nur Tatar, a world champion with two Olympic medals under her belt.
Tor triumphed over China’s Wu Jingwu, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, who came in third in the event.
Both Singaporeans are still in secondary school.
Tan is in Temasek Secondary School, while Tor is in Unity Secondary School, according to The Straits Times.
The Singapore Taekwondo Federation congratulated Tan and Tor for their achievements in a Facebook post:
It’s like Taekwondo, but with AR technology and health bars
Virtual Taekwondo is a futuristic fighting game where players utilise their entire body as a controller to simulate a real taekwondo match.
Both fighters wear augmented reality (AR) headsets, while motion trackers on theirs hands, back, knees, and shins not only track the motion and positioning of their limbs, but also measure the power behind each kick.
Competitors have a health bar with 2,000 points, and have 90 seconds to deliver a knock-out, which is achieved when the opponent’s health bar falls to zero.
There is also a stun meter that fighters can deplete, which can immobilise their opponent and lead to an easier win.
A short explainer of the game can be found on the Olympics website.
What is Olympic Esports Week?
The Olympics Esports Week was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).
The event took place in Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre with a reported 20,000 spectators over the four-day event.
In an interview with CNBC, Minister of Culture, Community, and Youth, Alvin Tan said Singapore sees esports as a growing industry, with a global audience of half a billion.
He also called Southeast Asia the fastest growing region for esports.
A total of 131 players from over 60 countries – including 18 from Singapore – competed in the finals in games across 10 sports.
About 500,000 players entered the qualification rounds.
| Esport | Platform |
| Archery | Tic Tac Bow |
| Baseball | WBSC eBaseball: POWER PROS |
| Chess | Chess.com |
| Cycling | Zwift |
| Dance | Just Dance |
| Motorsport | Gran Turismo 7 |
| Sailing | Virtual Regatta |
| Shooting | ISSF Challenge featuring Fortnite |
| Taekowndo | Virtual Taekowndo |
| Tennis | Tennis Clash |
The event also featured other exhibition events, such as an e-basketball match on NBA2K23.
Members of the public were also invited to try their hand at the various esports.
Unlike other Olympic events, podium finishers for Esports Week take home trophies instead of medals.
Top photos from Olympics website