Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen finished 25th (out of 25 runners) in Friday’s 10k marathon, but still leaves Paris as the winner. The 27-year-old may not have won a medal, but he goes home with nearly 500,000 TikTok followers – and that could be more valuable than gold.
Famous for his love of the Olympic Village’s gooey chocolate muffins (as a long-distance swimmer, he has explained that the treats fit perfectly with his 7,000-calorie-a-day diet), Christiansen is one of several Olympic stars who have thrived in the meme realm, if not in the actual sport that brought them to France.
The baked goods themselves went viral as several other Olympians jumped on the trend, but none could match the magic of the so-called “Muffin Man.”
In many cases, the successful clips were shot by previously little-known athletes, often without much planning. Swiss national rower Célia Dupré may not have had a social media plan for the 2024 Olympics, but she found an audience of often over 500,000 viewers for videos in which she described aspects of the participants’ lives, including the reality of early-morning doping tests and teammates switching languages in the middle of competition.
“Olympians have realized that their content has tremendous exposure and that this is a way to get exposure for their sport,” Dupré said. “It’s a really good way to get people’s attention.”
NBC has also used its own digital celebrities. Between July 26 and August 9, more than 1.3 million videos with the hashtag #Olympics were posted on TikTok, about 16 times as many as during the same period of the Tokyo Olympics.
“Networks will look at what NBC did and learn from it and be inspired,” said Rollo Goldstaub, head of sports partnerships at TikTok. “They’ll see how content creators can be so successful with their large number of highlights.”
TikTok has also worked directly with specific athletes and national teams, including bringing on board over 100 participants from the UK at a pre-Games event.
Dupré added that many athletes turned to social content creation because they had rare downtime before their races or Games, which came with cutting back on their training routines. In particular, sports that allow more free time during the two weeks open up more opportunities for creatives.
“People just have more time and they sit around and can’t do anything else but film,” she said. “For me, it was an outlet.”
And while players often tried to block out social media in favor of their focus, the viral trends that were gaining global attention were also visible within their bubble.
“They became sort of mini-celebrities, especially Muffin Man,” Dupré said. “People would take pictures and think, ‘Oh my God, I have a photo with Muffin Man.'”
Here are the other stars of the Online Olympics, whether they achieved fame or not.
Ilona Maher (USA Rugby)
Maher broke out in Tokyo and continued to win new fans this summer when the U.S. women won America’s first rugby medal since 1924. “Sorry if you can’t escape me on any of the apps,” Maher posted Friday on TikTok, where she has 2.3 million followers and uploaded a selfie with Tom Brady. “I’m everywhere.”
Yusuf Dikeç (Turkish 10-meter air pistol)
While other athletes surprised newcomers with high-tech equipment, Dikeç stood out for his apparent nonchalance when he won silver in the mixed team competition. His pose while firing his pistol has since inspired celebrations from numerous athletes, including other medalists. Dikeç himself attracted attention by starting an X-account that already has more than 300,000 followers.
Suni Lee And Simone Biles (USA Gymnastics)
It’s not just niche athletes who know the value of a good video opportunity. Lee and Biles were heard on camera discussing what TikToks they would make immediately after winning the gold medal in the team event. Lee’s clip now has nearly 50 million views on the platform. But that pales in comparison to the 130 million views Biles received for her version.
Rachael Gunn, AKA B-Girl Raygun (Australia Breaks Through)
Breaking made its Olympic debut on Friday, and while B-girl Ami won the first gold medal, it was the Australian competitor who generated the most discussion online. Gunn, a 36-year-old professor from Sydney, lost all her bouts by unanimous decision and was subsequently subjected to a barrage of jokes and criticism online. She goes home with a hard-earned lesson on the dark side of modern virality.
“I love Rachael and I think what happened on social media with trolls and keyboard warriors and that those comments got airtime was really disappointing,” Australia’s Chef de Mission Anna Meares said at a press conference on Saturday.
