Making it to the Olympics is an incredible honour but for just a handful of athletes competing at Paris 2024, there’s another feat that they’ve achieved — becoming social media superstars.
While the televised events used to be the only glimpse into the Games that everyday people like you and me would see, these days, we get the behind-the-scenes treatment thanks to the athletes themselves jumping on social media.
I, for one, am obsessed. I love having a sneaky peek into the Athlete’s Village. And so far, social media has already investigated whether the food is shit, if the cardboard beds really do prevent people from fucking and let us have a cheeky look at the cute imagery on the supplied condoms within the athlete’s village.
As a result, some of the social media secret sharers have seen their follower count climb during the Olympics. So, here are some of the biggest breakout stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Ilona Maher
Team USA rugby sevens athlete Ilona Maher was already big on TikTok following her behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. But now, after helping her team land a bronze medal with multiple tries scored, she’s reached a whole new level of online stardom.
Maher’s content isn’t exclusively Olympics based though. Over the years, she’s gained traction for becoming an advocate for body positivity and women in sport, and as a result, she’s currently sitting at 1.8 million followers on TikTok and 1.9M on Instagram.
Stephen Nedorosik
After Team USA nabbed a podium spot in men’s gymnastics due to his stellar performance on the pommel horse, bespectacled king Stephen Nedorosik has become the internet’s golden boy.
Audiences were captivated after he removed his glasses seconds before his event, slaying and managing to clinch the bronze medal. Now, he’s being referred to as the Clark Kent or Tom Holland of gymnastics.
His TikTok account is currently sitting at 175k followers and his Instagram at 143k but they’re climbing as we speak! In fact, his pinned video (which is an old one, I’ll admit) is currently sitting at over 20 million views after a huuuuge boost from his latest win. Hell yeah, brother!!!!
Thomas Ceccon
Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon has arguably become the standout heartthrob of this year’s Olympic Games despite not being an Olympic newbie. In fact, Ceccon rocked up to Paris 2024 as an esteemed Olympian, world champion and record holder of the 100m backstroke.
But this time around, he caught the attention of horndogs worldwide who were captivated by how good-looking he is. Imagine that, talented and ridiculously, ridiculously, good looking? I guess some people really do have it all.
As a result of our collectively thirsty asses, the gold medallist’s social media has copped a hell of an increase in followers.
Personally, my love for the man developed when I saw that he was repping a prosciutto brand. As a half-Italian woman, I just want someone who can guarantee a fridge of cold meats at all times.
Kim Yeji
South Korean athlete Kim Yeji claimed a silver medal while representing her country in the Olympic 10-meter pistol shooting. She did the damn thing wearing particularly futuristic glasses that captured the attention of cyborg enthusiasts around the world.
She straight up looked like an imagining of what a comic book assassin would look like and went viral after an X (formerly Twitter) account called Women Posting W’s with the caption, “the most aura I have ever seen in an image.”
Tyler Downs
Two-time Olympian Tyler Downs has worked hard on cultivating a social media presence and, boy, is it paying off. The diver is currently boasting a whopping 975.3k followers on TikTok, where his videos rack up millions of views. On Instagram, he has 115k followers.
Not too shabby!!!
Sunisa Lee
Although 21-year-old Sunisa Lee has been documenting her gymnastics journey online for a while now, it’s her incredible performance at the 2024 Olympics that has cemented her as one to watch.
After winning her first-ever gold Olympic medal alongside Team USA teammate Simone Biles in artistic gymnastics, Sunisa has been posting videos of the team celebrating their win and it’s really fkn sweet.
She currently has 1.9 million followers on TikTok and 2 million on Instagram.
Shane O’Neill
Finally!!! An Australian!!! Skateboarder Shane O’Neill is one of the most followed athletes in Australia. On TikTok, he has 132k followers, and on IG he’s got 1.4 million where he posts videos of him shredding up the skate park and doing some gnarly tricks.
I’m sooOooOoo certain I outed myself as an uncool non-skater by that last sentence alone.
Anyway, in some sad news for the dual-Olympian, he bowed out of the men’s Street Skateboarding after his performance saw him score a number that put him outside of the top eight finalists.
Coco Gauff
CoCo Gauff is a 20-year-old American tennis player with over two million followers on Instagram and 714.7k followers on TikTok where she’s been posting a heap of sweet behind-the-scenes stuff with her fellow athletes from Team USA.
Throughout her career, she has won seven singles titles and is currently ranked as number two in the world for singles tennis. Most recently at the 2024 Olympics, CoCo made headlines for arguing with the umpire over a ruling during a match against Donna Vekic.
“I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball. It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself,” CoCo said on the court.
The ruling was maintained and CoCo was reduced to tears as she lost her chance to take out the women’s singles. However, her Olympic dreams are still alive with the women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Jules Bouyer
The horndogs have struck again. Jules Bouyer, a French springboard diver, found himself in the headlines for simply being hot and packing in his tiny swimming trunks.
One of the best things about making international news is seeing the phrasing that “serious” tabloid news sites use to describe the situation. Here are some of my favourites:
- “It shows him wearing a pair of very tight swimming trunks that shows off a rather bulging manhood.” — The Daily Mail
- “Many seemed distracted by his unmentionables under his white, red and blue swimsuit.”— News.com.au
- “His hardworking Speedos were made by Australian brand Budgy Smuggler, and not the more aptly named French sports clothing brand Le Coq Sportif.” — PerthNow (teehee)
Anyway, thanks to the extra publicity from the absolute hog he’s smuggling, Jules has 160k followers on IG and 8k on TikTok — but counting. And it turns out that the talented sportsman is also a model.
Simone Biles
It wouldn’t be a list of Olympics social media sports stars without the one and only Simone Biles. Now that she’s won gold AGAIN, she’s become the most decorated gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games with eight medals.
Sounds like someone completely deserving of her 2.5 million TikTok followers and 9 million IG followers, don’t you think?
So, if you’re a fan of sports and the people making them a worldwide spectacle, don’t be shy, go chuck ’em a follow!!!!
The post Peep The Olympic Athletes Going Viral On IG & TikTok RN — And Not Just For Their Athletic Skillz appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
