As we recently reported upon, Team Vitality won IEM Rio over the weekend, continuing a very admirable and impressive streak of results and success. This victory, while amazing in its own right, is exacerbated by the fact that the French team also secured a back-to-back Intel Grand Slam by lifting the IEM Rio trophy, a feat no team has ever accomplished before.
For reference, winning an Intel Grand Slam requires winning four ESL-hosted events within a ten-game run. For Team Vitality, it managed the feat in as little as seven total tournaments after winning IEM Dallas 2025, IEM Cologne 2025, IEM Krakow 2026, and IEM Rio 2026.
As few teams have managed to land a single blow on Team Vitality as of recent, and considering we're now in IEM season, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that the team is a favourite for the next Intel Grand Slam. For reference, before we reach July, there will be two more IEM events (Atlanta in May and Cologne in June), and on current form, you wouldn't favour many squads over Team Vitality.
But enough looking to the future, this result means that Team Vitality takes home an additional $1 million in prize money and even is rewarded with an incredibly rare gold bar, the second of which this team has secured.
