Broadband redefines athletes as thousands train to compete in online Olympics

Broadband is helping to redefine the role of the modern sportsperson, as thousands of online gamers train to compete in the worldwide Digital Games in China this autumn.

In China digital gaming is immensely popular, with many internet cafes open right through the night to accommodate the many workers who “train” online in their spare time. For the first time this year the Digital World Games tournament will be an official affiliated event of the Olympic Games. Trails for the games have been held online from 11^th June, continuing until 27^th July, but the actual event will take place in Beijing in October.

“This will be the largest online video tournament yet,” says Ted Owen, chairman and chief executive of GGL Global Gaming, the largest social networking group for gamers worldwide, and an official sponsor of the event, hosted by the Chinese Government.

The tournament will use the most popular games consoles including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PCs, and feature a whole range of sports games from NBA Live 08 and TrackMania racing games to real-time strategy games and first-person shooter games such as Counter-Strike 1.6 and Call of Duty.

Whilst many online athletes may not have the same toned physique as their traditional counterparts, they are often equally dedicated to training. 20-year-old gamer Patrick O’Day from San Fransisco works as a parking attendant during the day, but as soon as he hits home after his eight hour shift, he’s back on his XBox, often staying up as late as 3am to practise.

Broadband gaming has particularly taken off in the Far East, where gamers can enjoy speeds of up to 100Mbps.

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