Beyond the polished broadcasts of the elite Olympic performances shown to the world, another narrative unfolds on social, and it’s not going unnoticed. With strict schedules and lots of downtime, athletes are now more digitally native than ever and are seizing the opportunity to connect directly with their audience. While the Tokyo 2021 Games was crowned the unofficial ‘TikTok Olympics’, these games have taken it even further across all platforms. Athletes are taking it into their own hands to jump on viral trends or, in some cases, start them. And, this is not limited to just comedy.
Athletes are seemingly much more comfortable showcasing who they are as people. From topics around mental health awareness, to niche interests (sprinter Noah Lyles and his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards or gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik and Rocket League games), athletes are happier than ever to showcase their full personality.
But, some have managed to cut through the noise.
Artistic swimmer turned beauty influencer
Team USA’s Daniella Ramirez shares daily ‘behind the scenes’ of what it’s like to be an Olympic artistic swimmer. Her hair gel ‘knoxing’ videos have turned her into an iconic hairstyling influencer, with some videos reaching over 165M views! But why? Well, there is an element of intrigue here. This extremely niche, and somewhat unusual, routine is a brand new world to most viewers and that makes them want more.
Gymnastics’ new ‘it’ girl
With over three million followers on her TikTok account, Gymnast Sunisa ‘Suni’ Lee is already a global phenomenon, but, the Paris Olympics have made her bigger than ever. From #GRWM videos, to behind-the-scenes of winning gold medals, her varied content has caught the attention of the masses. Suni has also taken part in some of the most viral trends of the Olympics in a hilarious way, taking her own spin on the current ‘unfortunately I was not selected to the 2024 Olympics’. Once again, it’s Sunisa’s ability to show herself as a real person that makes her content so enjoyable. She’s aware of her success, and audiences are proud to embrace that, but she also has fun with it and uses TikTok just like her peers.
Do you know the muffin man?
With his hilarious TikTok content series around the Olympics now famous chocolate muffins, Norwegian swimmer, Henrik Christiansen, has made huge waves on social. By creating content that is removed from his sport and focusing on more comical ‘day in the life’ skits, Henrik invited audiences into a much more relatable world. He showed an authenticity that made audiences like him, and ultimately, that’s what audiences need — connection. And, let’s face it, who doesn’t love a chocolate chip muffin?
#BeastBeautyBrains
Despite playing the relatively niche sport of Rugby 7s, Ilona Maher is flying high on social. So much so that she has recently overtaken the All Blacks as the most followed Rugby influencer account. Although an Olympic-winning athlete, Ilona’s content is still extremely relatable.
Whether it’s jumping on our favourite Lady Gaga trend or living her French wine and cheese dreams, Ilona represents the everyday Gen Z girl on social. Not only that, but she shows genuine passion in building the brand of Rugby 7s itself. Her content serves as inspiration for women across the globe, with her spotlighting the power behind Rugby 7s and promoting body inclusivity across the Games.
Beyond the memes and video-centric nature of today’s internet, the most truly viral content of the Games has by far been the captivating still images around the whole competition. A too-good-to-be-true shot of Brazilian Surfer Gabriel Medina went viral for its seemingly ‘obvious’ use of AI — which turned out to be a genuine image captured by Jerome Brouillett.
Or, South Korean pistol shooter, Kim Ye-Ji, being crowned on social as the ultimate main character, closely followed by glasses-wearing Turkish marksman Yusuf Dikeç. Social’s ability to create viral trends from candid moments proves that a single image should never be underestimated.
Ultimately, in a world where social media is more powerful than ever, these athletes are proving that success goes beyond medals. The connections they’ve formed with their audiences will continue long after the Games, and that’s the power of a social.
Featured image: Antonio Vivace / Unsplash