Here’s the thing—I’m not, never was, and probably never will be remotely interested in sports. Having said that, the Paris 2024 Olympics are here, and, to my surprise, I couldn’t be more invested. Because the content? It’s been giving.
Of course, athletes have been putting their best foot forward in the Games, but their game on TikTok and Instagram has been top-notch. If you’re notoriously online like me, your feed is probably jam-packed with videos of athletes having a little too much fun off field, and documenting every moment of it.
Olympians like Ilona Maher, Tom Daley, Hazel Ouwehand, Coco Gauff, Tilly Kearns, Lewis Clareburt, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar are social media superstars racking up millions of views—and the Olympic Village is their playground. From jumping on the ‘anti-sex’ cardboard beds to see if they’re actually...well, anti-sex, to unboxing the welcome kits (yes, cheeky condoms were included), room tours, grocery-store hauls, dining-hall food reviews and hilarious moments from practice—nothing is left undocumented.
As a card-carrying member of the Love Island cult, the Olympics crossover has to be my favourite trend so far. “This week, a hot new bombshell enters the villa,” spoofs Maher as she struts in her Skims bikini. Other athletes are imitating the way contestants talk, using the show’s trending audios on their videos. Another one I enjoyed was the ‘Olympic muffin man’, aka Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, who has gone viral for being completely besotted by the bakery at the Village—particularly the “choccy muffin”, which he rated a solid 11/10.
The Beijing Winter Olympics, just two years ago, was nothing like this. TikTok and Instagram were, of course, part of the scene, but now, they’re a whole new beast. The social media managers on the Olympics accounts are clearly on to something: with Gen Z athletes and a couple of new generations of audiences to tap, they knew, maybe, that the best thing is to let them do what they do best—have fun on the internet.
And they are having fun. My current obsession? The videos of people thirsting over the sexy shirtless swimmers, of course. Clearly everyone’s watching the Olympics for the sports.
