Shooters and shadows, community and cheese: how social media has influenced the Paris 2024 Olympics

After 16 days of thrilling, heartbreaking and dramatic events, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have come to an end. Although the Olympic events took place in and around Paris, there was an additional arena in which to experience them: online.

With social media becoming increasingly mainstream, the drama and excitement of the Olympics extended beyond Paris. New Olympic icons spread like wildfire on social media, while big comebacks and victories were celebrated, athletes in need were given a helping hand, and the Games made their mark worldwide. While the virality of the 2024 Olympics was comparable to the Tokyo Games, the Paris Games saw some people and events gain a global reach that influenced how the Games were played, perceived, and celebrated.

Below are some of the biggest and most viral stories from the Olympics.

Yusuf Dikeç becomes a breakthrough star – and a popular new pose

Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç emerged early in the Games as one of the most unlikely viral stars of these Olympics. Dikeç won silver with teammate Sevval Ilayda Tarhan to claim Turkey’s first-ever shooting medal, but it was his cool approach to shooting — hand in pocket, simple goggles, no protective headgear — that made him stand out.

South Korean shooter Kim Ye-ji, who won silver in her event, also went viral for her bent hip and special glasses while shooting.

Dikeç’s legacy continued after his events were over, as a number of track and field stars adopted his signature pose during their competitions. Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis performed the finger gun-hand in pocket combo move after winning gold; the South African men’s 4x100m relay team did it after he won silver; the British women’s 4x400m relay team did the pose before winning bronze.

Simone Biles and Suni Lee take photos while celebrating gold

After Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee led the US to a gold medal in team gymnastics, the two celebrated in real life and online.

Lee, who has an active TikTok account, was focused on celebrating the team’s win despite people thinking they wouldn’t be able to take home gold. Lee was seen planning her TikTok with her teammates shortly after the win, posting it shortly after.

“Everyone wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t win,” Lee and Jordan Chiles lip-sync, before Lee covers the camera and pulls it out again to show the team holding their gold medals. “I guess we’ll never know.” The video has been viewed nearly 50 million times and has more than seven million likes on TikTok.

Biles’ goals were a little more specific. Her first Instagram post after the win, which has garnered more than 4 million likes, took on former USA teammate MyKayla Skinner. The caption read, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions” — a reference to Skinner’s criticism of Biles’ current USA teammates, who she said “don’t work as hard” and “don’t have the work ethic.”

Biles soon announced that Skinner had blocked her on social media.

But it didn’t stop there: Biles also took aim at former President Donald Trump, who was criticized for talking about “black jobs” during the campaign. He posted a message on X that was liked more than a million times.

Kevin Durant, inspired by Simone Biles, posts late at night after winning gold

Kevin Durant won his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris, after a thrilling semifinal against Serbia. In the early morning hours after the semifinal, Durant turned to his other favorite pastime: tweeting.

Instead of going to sleep after the win, Durant confronted several fans at X at 5 a.m. (Paris time).

Durant told The Athletic that he was inspired by Simone Biles, both on and off the court. Durant said he truly admired Biles for her talent and poise, but also for how she handled what people said about her. “She’s inspired me to keep tweeting and keep doing what I do on the court,” Durant said of Biles, who he repeatedly calls the GOAT.

Inspired, he didn’t stop at the semifinals. Durant also took a swipe at Germany’s Dennis Schroeder. During a press conference, Schroeder said that “European basketball is not entertainment, it’s just IQ basketball” — suggesting that American basketball doesn’t have the same intelligence.

Durant responded by posting a photo of the U.S. team winning the gold medal, with the caption, “ENTERTAINMENT & IQ.”

Athletes get chance to shine on TikTok

Several athletes took advantage of the extra attention in Paris to set up a social media network around their Olympic experience.

American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher, who originally gained a following during the Tokyo Games, expanded her platform even further during the Paris Games. Maher amassed thousands of social media followers during the Olympics, raising awareness of her sport — which got an extra boost when the United States surprised Australia with a historic bronze medal.

One of the biggest TikTok stars of this Olympics is Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, the self-proclaimed “muffin man” who went viral for his obsession with the chocolate muffin available in the Olympic Village.

Christiansen is a three-time Olympian and long-distance swimmer who consumes up to 7,000 calories a day as part of his training — so the chocolate muffin excess isn’t a threat to his Olympic goals. He’s racked up millions of views on TikTok related to his muffin mania, with one of his videos having over 20 million views and three million likes.

His obsession had a domino effect: several other athletes tried the muffins and others tried to recreate the recipe.

Christiansen, it must be said, didn’t quite have the same breakthrough in the water: He successfully completed the marathon swim on August 8, but finished last. Still, Christiansen leaves Paris with a sizable social media following — more than 489,000 followers on TikTok as of Sunday — and an incredibly specific legacy to go along with his athletic career.

Many athletes competing in the Games have made huge financial sacrifices to get there. But one athlete, American discus thrower Veronica Fraley, was able to turn her troubles into a happy ending after a post about not being able to pay her rent went viral.

Fraley, a 24-year-old student-athlete at Vanderbilt, posted that Vanderbilt was only sending a percentage of the money needed to pay her rent. Flavor Flav, an avid Team USA supporter and patron of the women’s water polo team, quickly responded by saying he would help her, and Alexis Ohanian helped split the cost.

According to Flavor Flav, Fraley has already paid off her rent for a year thanks to people who saw her tweet and reached out to her to show support.

Pommel Horse Guy, Raygun, Bob the Cap-Catcher, the Italian Cheese Turner and more unexpected icons of the games

Sometimes it’s the unexpected that really grabs people’s attention. Some of the most memorable moments from these games weren’t about the events themselves, but about individuals who unexpectedly went viral.

Some of these characters, like Bob the Cap-Catcher, the man in the flower-colored swim trunks who had to retrieve swimming caps from the pool, enjoyed short-lived attention. Others, like gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, persevered. Nedoroscik—also known as “Pommel Horse Guy”—made waves in the men’s gymnastics team event with a brilliant routine on his only event, the pommel horse, to earn a bronze medal for Team USA. Nedoroscik also won bronze in the individual final.

Another gymnast, Italian Giorgia Villa, also went viral because she was sponsored by Parmigiano-Reggiano, the Italian consortium for all cheeses by that name. Villa helped Italy win silver in the team event, the first medal for gymnastics teams in nearly 100 years, but some would say that with that sponsorship, she was already a winner.

The Games closed with one final viral figure in Raygun, the 36-year-old professor who appeared on breaking’s Olympic debut and delivered a, well, memorable performance. B-girl Raygun, aka Rachael Gunn, wore a classic Australian uniform, didn’t earn a single point — and became an instant icon.

Iconic medal selfies to commemorate the victories

Finally, social media gives athletes the chance to show off their hardware. Several Americans posted their medal selfies on social media.

And on a busy Saturday, American basketball player Tyrese Haliburton (who was not in the rotation) and 16-year-old track star Quincy Wilson posted their own medal selfies, making fools of themselves.

It was a memorable Olympic Games, both on the ground and online. In just over a year and a half, the 2026 Winter Olympics will begin in Milan/Cortina, with more stars waiting to break through, no doubt.