‘Clark Kent’ of Pommel Horse, Korean 'Deadshot' and Now the Turkish ‘Hitman'... The Viral Era of Olympics

The original motto of the Olympics was – Citius, Altius, Fortius or Faster, Higher, Stronger. In 2021, it was expanded to Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter (Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together). Perhaps it’s time for another addition – Viral (sorry, I don’t know the Latin for it nor do I know if there is one). So Faster, Higher, Stronger and Viral – Together?

That’s a mouthful but not totally out of line given the number of athletes going viral for something as cool as badass visuals or as simple as liking chocolate muffins at the Olympic Village.

From the ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ to the South Korean ‘Deadshot’ to now the ‘Turkey Hitman’, Paris 2024 are the most viral and meme-ed Olympics ever. It’s not that previous editions haven’t provided meme fodder. The OG was US gymnast McKayla Maroney who went viral during the 2012 London Olympics for her ‘McKayla is not impressed’ expression on the podium after a Silver finish.

Sidebar – she is not to be confused with fellow gymnast MyKayla Skinner who is currently at the receiving end of Simone Biles’ swagger.

Nothing beats the thrill and pride of a podium finish for your country at the Olympics, but being able to rule the social media, even for a few hours, is a clear path to sponsorships and deals that financially help athletes’ journey.

With so many athletes hitting the social media jackpot in this Olympics, undoubtedly several others, too, would want to put their best foot forward. But that’s the thing about going viral – happens to the ones who least expect it.

POMMEL HORSE GUY

By day, he’s Stephen Nedoroscik from Massachusetts. By Olympics, he’s the ‘Pommel Horse Guy’.

Nedoroscik has, by far, been the internet’s most favourite athlete from the Paris Olympics. And this post on X perfectly sums up why.

Nedoroscik’s sole to-do on the US men’s gymnastics team is the pommel horse routine. The 25-year-old was sitting on the sidelines for three hours, whipped off his glasses when called up for his routine, made light work of it and walked away with Bronze for his team, the first medal for the US men’s gymnastics team in 16 years.

His specs-on, specs-off action has earned him comparisons with Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent as well as the moniker ‘babygirl’, the new Gen Z term of endearment. And the ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ is loving it all, says his girlfriend Tess McCracken, who has come to be loved equally by netizens.

Nedoroscik himself told the Today during an interview that he finds the memes “awesome”. “I think they’re awesome… You know, representing the people that wear glasses well,” he said.

And there’s more to the young athlete than meets the eye.

Nedoroscik wears glasses because of strabismus, a condition commonly known as crossed eyes, which can lead to double vision. In a 2022 TikTok video, the gymnast showed how he can choose his dominant eye!

So how was he able to nail his pommel horse routine without his specs? Well, he apparently doesn’t need to see to be able to challenge gravity.

“It’s not necessarily clear… But the thing about pommel horse is if I keep (the glasses) on, they’re going to fly somewhere… When I go up on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the equipment. I don’t even really see when I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s all in the hands. I can feel everything,” he said.

You can catch Nedoroscik in action next in the men’s pommel horse final on Saturday at 8:46pm IST, his last appearance in the Paris Olympics where he is a medal contender.

SHOT TO THE HEART

For the Pommel Horse Guy’s, specs were kryptonite. For Yusuf Dikec, they are his superpower. The Turkish shooter is the latest to break the internet at the Olympics, taking aim in the 10-metre air pistol event without any of the equipment and eye apparatus typically seen on shooters.

The 51-year-old is relaxed, wears no special lenses or eye gear save a simple pair of spectacles, one hand in the pocket, and shoots to win a Silver medal.

“I know a trained assassin when I see one,” joked an X user. “Did Turkey send a hitman to the Olympics?” asked another.

And the best part — internet just found out he’s a cat person.

While Dikec’s no-frills feat is massively impressive, some memes somewhat unfairly drew comparisons to South Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji who took silver in the women’s 10-metre air pistol.

Kim’s style — black South Korea uniform zipped up to the neck, a baseball hat, and wire-rimmed shooting glasses — exploded all over the internet this week.

Kim Ye-ji was almost preternaturally calm in videos showing her and her teammate locking up the two top shooting scores in Paris. After her win, a 27-second clip showing Kim, with the same ultra-calm manner, taking aim, shooting her weapon, and checking her record-breaking score, went viral.

The video, which appears to have been first shared in a Reddit thread, actually shows Kim at the Baku World Cup in May, not Paris. But even as social media platform X flagged some posts for sharing the footage out of context, the video continued to spread online, alongside images of Kim from Paris.

Kim was quickly declared “the coldest style star of this year’s Games” by style magazine GQ.

One post of the video, which declared Kim to have “the most main character energy” racked up more than 28 million views in a day.

THE MUFFIN MAN

What would the official snack of the Paris Olympics be? You would guess a croissant or a baguette. But the go-to treat of the Games is the humble chocolate muffin, made popular by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen a.k.a the Olympic Muffin Man.

An avid TikToker, Christiansen first met the muffins while during a review video of the food at the Olympic Village. He fell obsessively in love and is now chasing them around the Village in the City of Love with unrivalled passion. The muffin series was an instant on TikTok, especially one where a muffin holds him hostage!

The three-time Olympian long-distance swimmer needs to consume calorie heavy diet and the “incredibly moist” muffins hit just the spot.

SURF’s UP… WAY UP

AFP photographer Jerome Brouillet knew to expect fireworks when he saw Brazilian Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina paddle into one of the day’s biggest waves at one of the world’s heaviest surf breaks.

What he didn’t know was that his picture of Medina kicking out of the wave after a ride that earned a record Olympics score in Tahiti would become a global sensation, and likely a defining image of the sport and the Games.

Brouillet caught Medina soaring ramrod-straight above the waves pointing one finger in the sky, his surfboard pointing skyward at his side.

The picture has been used by scores of publications around the world and shared or liked millions of times online.

“This may well be the greatest sports photo of all time,” Australian media conglomerate News.com.au posted on its Facebook page.

TIME magazine described it as “the defining image of triumph of the 2024 Summer Games”.

Medina posted the image on his own Instagram account, quickly attracting more than 2.4 million likes.

THE STUNNING BACKHAND

You know why the helicopter blowing up shots look so cool in movies? Because the actor doesn’t look back. That’s the vibe Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen chanelled during a stunning and effortless backhand at opponent Jonatan Christie, leaving the world no. 4 Indonesian demoralised and the badminton fans worldwide ecstatic.

Leading 19-18, Sen and Christie were engaged in a rally when the Indonesian rushed to the net and put the shuttle away on the Indian’s backhand.

However, Sen didn’t bat an eyelid, neither changed his position much, and managed to play that outrageous shot with the help of his power wrist as the shuttle lopped across the net. Christie eventually ended up spraying wide to hand the Indian two game points.

While Sen’s flamboyant reflex defence was in display, the Indian produced a sensational retrieve in the closing stages at 19-12 in the second game as well when he ran from the net to the back court to keep the shuttle in play during a 50-shot rally, which set up the match point for him.

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