Wired asked four Olympic athletes, doing a photoshoot for Sega's upcoming 2010 winter games title, if video games had a legitimate place in Olympic competition. At least they were polite in their replies.
The most charitable response came from U.S. downhill skier Lindsey Vonn (pictured), one of two athletes identified as gamers (she loves her DS) before the interview.
"I think gaming should definitely be considered a competitive sport. It's like anything else. If there are people that want to compete, there should be a sport. Whether it should be in the Olympics or not, I don't know. [...] Maybe they can have their own Olympics; I'm sure they have their own world championships and stuff like that. Each sport has their own elite level of competition. [...] If gaming was an Olympic sport and a skiing game was one of the events, I would definitely try to win an Olympic medal in virtual skiing."
Probably more representative of how athletes feel is Kristina Groves, a Canadian speed skater.
"I would say that I don't agree with (gaming being included in the Olympics) just because sport is a very physical domain. You can't just imitate the sport; the whole idea of sport is doing it."
Snowboarders Matthew Morison (Canada) and Seth Wescott (U.S.) also weighed in on t
the idea.
Videogames in the Olympics? Olympic Athletes Sound Off [Wired] [image]