Kim Jae-yeol, recently appointed as a
member of the IOC Executive Board and president of the International Skating Union since 2022, opened the door to the idea of closer ties between the Winter Games and esports during a press briefing held in Milan, on the sidelines of
Milan-Cortina 2026. Speaking to a small group of Korean media gathered at the NH Milan Congress Center, the executive explained that “
if there is no enthusiasm from younger generations, there is no future”, stressing the need to reach that audience.
He then went on to say that he “will bring this idea up to the IOC at least once” when asked whether an alliance between winter sports and esports could be considered.
These remarks are in line with the “New DNA” promoted by the ISU, “Inspiring, Supportive, Unstoppable”, which Kim Jae-yeol explicitly links to the need to engage younger audiences: “
We always try to find ways to make skating more appealing to a younger generation of fans”. It was in this context that a
Sports Seoul journalist put forward the idea of a joint event, combining the Winter Games and a major esports gathering at the same venue and at the same time. To this, the ISU president simply replied that it was a possibility and that he would try to raise it at a future IOC meeting.
Esports on hold within the IOC
As
Sheep Esports has already reported recently, esports and the International Olympic Committee are currently at a standstill. As Kirsty Coventry put it, the relationship within the IOC has entered a “Pause and Reflect” phase around this idea, following the end of
its partnership with Saudi Arabia last November. During a final roundtable held on the occasion of the Milan Cortina Winter Games, taking place in early February 2026 in Italy, she notably stated that the Olympic Movement needs to take “
time to better understand” esports, and that “
it's really giving everyone an opportunity to be very clear on what entering into that space would mean for everyone, individually but also collectively”.
A period of reflection, then, but also an expectation of concrete proposals, a gap that South Korea has been quick to seize by launching an inter-ministerial working group at the end of January to explore its options. The stated objective is largely to push for hosting the first edition of these Olympic Esports Games but also to challenge the current barriers within the esports ecosystem, particularly around the management of IP rights.
Last December, even before these discussions, KeSPA Secretary General Kim Cheol-hak had already publicly stated that South Korea should host this inaugural edition, highlighting the country’s historical role in esports. This point was echoed by Koh Dong-jin, a South Korean lawmaker, who hoped that all these discussions would provide “the opportunity to be selected as the first host city of the Olympic Esports Games”.
Alternatives and exhibition matches
Alongside South Korea’s plans and the pause on the Olympic project, Saudi Arabia announced last August the
Esports Nations Cup, with its first edition set to take place next November in the capital. This competition, similar in concept to the Olympic Games, aims to bring together national teams from around the world across 16 different games.
In 2018, during the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, Intel organized a parallel StarCraft 2 tournament. Canadian player Sasha "Scarlett" Hostyn won the grand final, but no Olympic medal was awarded, as the tournament was solely a promotional event, with Intel serving as a sponsor of the Olympics.
