The Times has selected Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok as one of the top 10 sports powers around the world in 2023. The list includes football player Lionel Messi, MLB player Shohei Ohtani, women’s soccer player Sam Kerr, YouTuber and boxer KSI, etc. Faker’s face was featured in the center of The Times’ online image.

The Times explained that they usually don’t cover esports in the sports section, but the day Faker becomes a mainstream star of the Olympics, like Usain Bolt, is not far away. They introduced Faker with the nickname, The Unkillable Demon King.

This year, Faker achieved his fourth world championship title by defeating Weibo Gaming in the finals, a feat achieved by no other. He also claimed the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. At the 2023 LCK Awards, he was awarded Player of the Year for his performance.

As Faker embarks on 2024, he is still with T1, the team he has played for throughout his career, and with the same teammates as 2023, which is rare in the LoL esports scene.