A 16-year-old boy from Pennsylvania became the first-ever Fortnite World Cup solo champion on Sunday and pocketed the $3 million prize.
Pro video-game player Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf could be seen laughing and shaking his head in Arthur Ashe Stadium when his name was announced as the winner of the three-day e-sporting competition’s top prize.
“Words can’t even explain it. I’m just so happy,” Giersdorf said. “Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”
The teen won the solo finals portion of the competition after racking up 59 points, 26 more than the runner-up, Harrison “Psalm” Chang, according to the Fortnite World Cup leaderboard, posted on the wildly popular computer game’s website.
Giersdorf was one of thousands of gamers who dueled it out for the total $30 million in prizes.
The teen spends eight to 10 hours a day playing the cooperative shooter-survival game, his mother, Darcy Giersdorf told ESPN. His regimen involves downing a Wawa sandwich and Gatorade before important online matches.
On Sunday, the teen didn’t have his ritual pregame foods so had “shrimp, Powerade and also water,” he said.
Giersdorf’s family traveled to Queens from Philadelphia to support him.
“I literally feel like I’m in a dream right now,” his mother said. “It’s so surreal. … This is life-changing for him. He’s been playing video games since he was 3, so this is his passion. He told us he could do this, he put his mind to it and he did it.”
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Author: Tamar Lapin
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