When France lights the Olympic flame on Friday to herald the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team Videogames will not be shamelessly participating in the prestigious ceremony. Tomorrow's shame is not on the Olympic Committee for agreeing to include esports in 2025. No, the shame lies with the two competitors who seemingly could not bother to show up.

Mario the Plumber and Sonic the Hedgehog failed not only the Olympics, but themselves.

These iconic gaming mascots have not missed a summer Olympics since the 2008 Mario & Sonic Olympics. At the Beijing Olympics, they made history as captains of Team Video Games, winning gold medals in a whopping 20 events, from archery to gymnastics vaulting. In their home turf of Tokyo, they showcased their skills in even more sports, racking up gold medals in new competitions like rock climbing, skateboarding, and karate.

Just a few years ago, they were so dedicated to the Games that they even showed up in the Japanese capital in November 2019, 20 months before the Games actually took place. What happened to their extraordinary sportsmanship?

They seemed unstoppable. But the slimy, seductive bug called fame lured Mario and Sonic away from their noble sporting pursuits and into the dark heart of Hollywood.

After the 2023 release of “The Super Mario Brothers Movie” grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, Mario is newly Hollywood royalty, lining his pockets with sequels and spin-offs. He has already dragged his most taciturn friends into his new life of debauchery. Meanwhile, Sonic has betrayed his own species even more completely, abandoning his former Olympic teammates and starting a relationship with a human instead. No one expected the cocky star's first film to be such a success, but with two films released in two years and grossing about $700 million in pre-margin, the third, due out this year, is sure to join Mario as a billionaire.

Mario & Sonic have no plans to return to this or future Olympics. They have lost their competitive spirit and are too busy partying with the coastal elite to make use of the talent Segod gave them.

It is up to all of us to recommend new rising stars who will gladly compete in the Olympics before the next Winter Games in 2026. Mario & Sonic no longer deserve the rights to the official tie-in games. But without them, this year's official companions are a sad shadow of Mario & Sonic's glory days.

It may not be an iconic duo, but we believe we have just the right combination from this year's stellar lineup of PC games: the foot in “Ungerfoot” and the station wagon in “Pacific Drive.” They might struggle in the water events, but I think they would make a hell of a team otherwise.