Tonight In The Olympic Villa(ge)

You don't have to be a Love Island fan to be LOVING this year's Olympic content. In fact, you don't even need to be a sports fan!

I know I am far from alone when I say: I am obsessed with the Olympics… And why am I obsessed with the Olympics? Because social media. As much as The Internet can giveth and taketh away, right now it is giving. The Olympic content on Tiktok and Reels is wild – hugely entertaining, viral, fun and literally making stars outside of the sport arena in which they are clearly top, top, top! So, who am I watching? And ‘Welcome to the Villa(ge)’

Snoop Dog

No stop… And also: no, really! And: don’t stop! Snoop is the unofficial (and unlikely) mascot for not just the US team, but, honestly the Paris Olympics overall. Is anyone having a better time being in the crowd and on the sidelines? The expressions (hilarious!), the outfits (bespoke, printed faces of the athletes he’s cheering!), the fangirling (Team USA gymnasts, rugby players, you name it!) … He is brilliant.

He first stepped in the Olympics arena in Tokyo, where he co-hosted a recap commentary show for a streaming platform. It went viral thanks to clips of him describing the dressage horses’ trotting as ‘crip walking’ after the US street gang. Cue Olympics 2024 and Snoop is now The Guy behind NBC’s Olympics coverage. What a fit of genius! Who approved this? Give him a raise! 🍻🍻 He was a torchbearer in the opening ceremony but that pales compared to his sideline vibes! Wholesome beyond.

“I think that’s what people love about me is that it’s organic and it’s real,” Snoop says. “It’s like if your uncle or your father watches the game the same way Snoop does and speaks the same way and you feel connected.”

Ilona Maher

She’s the US women’s rugby player that has gone viral… Not saying she wasn’t already a much followed and much-loved sports star, but in a week of The Olympics, she exploded from 800K followers on Instagram to 2.4M becoming the most followed rugby player in the world. Yes, she has even out-paced our Mr Kolisi who sits at 1.3M on Insta. There’s another 2M on Tiktok with 112M likes…

Ilona Maher’s following has grown by more than one million followers since – as she puts it – “she entered the Villa”. Watch this fantastically funny clip and you’ll know why we’re all besotted. Also: not just funny and self-deprecating, but… She is a major body advocate for sport, for women, for body positivity and she wears lipstick to play rugger. Her viral clip about all the different Olympian body types is worth everyone watching. But so are her trending audios to kit reveals, running onto the field and meeting Jason Kelce (that’s Taylor Swift’s Travis’ famous and famously adored NFL brother) in his French beret.

“I play a sport that is traditionally very masculine. You have to be, supposedly, very manly to play. I think it's putting female athletes in a box. So I wear makeup [on the pitch] to give a big ‘eff you’ to having to sacrifice my femininity. Even while I wear lipstick or have mascara on, I can still tackle hard, run hard, and be a great rugby player.

“Lipstick is my way of saying how I feel, how I want to be presented. I can wear bright colors on the field because I have a lipstick that I really trust is going to stay on my face. The lipstick I wear on the field is Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink. It stays up to the point where you’ve got to work to get it off.” Sign her up for a sponsorship IMMEDIATELY, Maybelline marketing execs 💋💄 And PS, Skims, you should too.

PS, the stats: Ilona Maher is a 27-year-old from Vermont who attended Quinnipiac University in Connecticut before joining the U.S. rugby sevens team. The team secured a bronze medal earlier this week.

“Undoubtedly the queen of social media, but don’t let that fool you this girl’s a BEAST when playing” - UK Olympics commentator

Pommel Horse Clark Kent

You know how Clark Kent removes his specs and becomes Superman? Well, meet Stephen Nedoroscik – the US male gymnast who is part of the team for one reason and one reason only – pommel horse. It went like this: pommel horse was the last event in the group gymnastics, so Pommel Horse Guy who no one was paying too much attention to, napped with his glasses on, on the bench. The US were doing okay, but not ACING it. Then comes pommel horse.

Guy gets up, removes his specs, changes metaphorically into a superhero and goes out and aces a routine so insane, he slams the points home and through his legendary prowess alone, clinches the US team a bronze medal, thus breaking their 16 year medial drought! The Internet is obsessed.

“Obsessed with this one guy on the US men’s gymnastics team who looks like he's getting his PHD in anthropology and his only job is pommel horse”

He came, he napped, he ate. He’s now everywhere so we know he loves chess, sudoku and can solve a Rubik’s cube in 10 seconds. Watch this clip. And, and… he is almost blind without his glasses, so he performs on the pommel horse by feel. I meannnn: “shame man, that’s hectic” but also “howwwzit!”

Kim Ye-Ji

She’s a South Korean superstar, a crack pistol-shooting Olympian and something straight out of a sci-fi film or sniper thriller thanks to her lewk. But I didn’t need to tell you that - just look at her pic. Hand laconically in pocket, squishy toy, robo glasses.

“The social media consensus seemed to be that Kim looked like some sort of robo-assassin from an action film, a killer from the near future that doesn’t need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle, because she looks plenty cool enough on her own, thank you very much,” gushes NYT.

She isn’t actually wearing a pair of glasses as such, but a performance aid. Over her left eye is a small black rectangle, a blinder that blocks out one eye and allows greater focus in the other. Over her right eye is a small black circle - a common bit of kit that features a mechanical iris to help avoid blurring and allows greater focus on the target.

Just to add to the legend. And the superhero origin story - Kim was competing with a stuffed toy elephant strapped to her belt. She told interviewers that it is a lucky charm that belongs to her five-year-old daughter, who is back home in Korea.

Simone Biles

Going into this Olympics, we knew Simone Biles would be one to watch. She was going for gold, plus she is Major Media Frenzy potential and she is so dang good at gymnastics that five moves (and counting) have been named after her. What’s been as amazing to watch is how she has taken her younger team under her wing and made them stars… Mykayla Skinner hit the sour grapes vibes a few months ago and commented on YouTube on the US gymnastics team announcement saying that the team chosen was lacking in talent, depth and work ethic. Yikes.

Simone Biles must be a Scorpio (ed’s note: I checked, she’s Pisces but this clapback is so Scorpio coded, ouch). Cue months later, the US women’s team clinches the gold group medal and Simone captions the pic: “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions ❤️🥇🇺🇸”

Also, also! Simone - just last night - claimed the women’s individual all-round gold with a score of 58.750. And she nailed one of her signature moves - the Biles II. And she wowed with a flawless floor routine. And she is now a two-time gymnastics Olympic champion. The first since 1968. 1968, people. Wild!

Tom Daley

The British diver who knits, yes knits… Bless him. Do not miss watching this vid of his Paris 2024 jersey. As he said on Insta: ‘Yesterday was an absolute dream! My kids got to see me dive in the Olympics for the first time in person! 5 Olympics. 5 medals! 😱.’ Yep, Tom Daley has been competing in the Olympics for more than a decade. He won silver with his team mate Noah Williams this week.

Were you surprised? Tom had officially retired from the sport until he un-retired himself. Tom told The Guardian this story of his family’s visit to the Olympics Museum.

“I was sitting down there,” Daley recounts, “and being like: ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’m ready for this.’ I was crying. I looked at over at Lance [his husband]. And Lance looked at me and went: ‘Oh, no, here we go. You want to go back, don’t you?’ Daley, re-awakened, agreed. “And Robbie [his son] said to me at the time: ‘Papa, I want to see you dive at the Olympics.’

Thanks Lance and Robbie. Love having him back.

Thomas Ceccon

Yoh, The Internet is thirsty! After Italy won the bronze during the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, the Internet set their eyes on 23-year-old Thomas Ceccon. As Tiktok went bananas with memes reading: ‘watching Olympics for the plot 😉’ and ‘are all Italians models?’, sat back and enjoyed the show.

Last but not least… To these women!

Tatjana Smith

Faves of faves! Tatjana Schoeman Smith winning GOLD in the women’s 100m breaststroke, followed by silver in the women’s 200m breaststroke last night! Follow her on Instagram here… Men’s rugby sevens team and men’s mountain biker, Alan Hatherly have also secured bronze medals. Who’s next?

Now, tell me, did I miss out on anyone you’re love-love-loving?!