Olympic council adds Gran Turismo 7 as medal sport in 2026 Asian Games

GT7 e-sports gold up for grabs

Gran Turismo gamers in the country, it’s time to grab those consoles – this could be your chance at becoming an Olympian, or even a gold medalist in e-sports.

The Olympic Council of Asia has confirmed that the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will feature 11 medal-contending e-sports titles.

From being a demonstration sport during the 18th Asian Games in 2018, e-sports was officially recognized as an official medal sport in the 2023 edition held at Hangzhou. But for 2026, e-sports presence will be greater at the Asian Games and most notably, it will include Gran Turismo 7 as a medal event.

Other e-sports games include Competitive Martial Arts such as Street Fighter Series, Tekken, King of Fighter Series (Team Competition), Pokemon Unite, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile (Asian Games Version), Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Identity V (Asian Games Version), Naraka: Bladepoint, Efootball Series and Puyo Puyo Champions.

Locally, Toyota Motor Philippines holds the GT Cup as the biggest nationwide event for Gran Turismo 7 players in the country. The fastest gamers went on to represent the country in the regional and global GT Cup Series organized by Toyota Gazoo Racing, but now the announcement of OCA means the best Gran Turismo 7 players in the country can now be recognized at an Olympic level.

It will be interesting to see how the Philippine Olympic Committee is going to select the players that will bear the PH flag in the Asian Games for Gran Turismo 7, most especially with Toyota partnering with Olympic organizing committees globally as part of its “Start Your Impossible” campaign.

The 20th Asian Games will run from September 19 to October 4, 2026.