The Winners of the 2024 Meme Olympics

The Paris Olympics are devastatingly over, but we’re still trying to pretend like they’re not.

By Alise Morales  |  August 15, 2024 | 9:00am
Photos: Getty Images LatestOlympics Paris Olympics
The Winners of the 2024 Meme Olympics

The For You Page is a bi-weekly column by Alise Morales that explores, inspects, traverses, sifts through, and dives into internet culture. 

The 2024 Olympics are really, truly over and we all have to hang up our hats as amateur sports commentators and get back to our regular lives. I was in Europe for much of the Olympics, so I was able to catch a decent number of the events live on various TV screens throughout Poland, including watching the pole vault finals while on mushrooms in a bar in Krakow. (Highly recommend this if you can ever swing it–and to the two women I met in the Charles De Gaulle airport who had just seen Simone Biles compete…I will always be jealous of you.) But as these world-class athletes make their way home, medals in hand (#JusticeforJordanChiles), there’s still one award left…

Who won social media? As a connoisseur of all things internet, I feel honor-bound to step up to the podium and judge the most important competition of all: the Meme Olympics. Without further ado, here are your Paris 2024 winners in the four most coveted categories of the year…

Meme Generation (Unintentional)

There are two ways to go viral in this world. One is through hard work, dedication, and an innate understanding of the algorithm. Another is to stumble ass-backward into infamy. Our 2024 Olympians (and their poolside helpers) put up a stiff competition in the Meme Generation (Unintentional) category, but three athletes went above and beyond to bring home medals for their country.

Bronze: Bob the Cap Catcher 





Who says you need to be an athlete during the Olympics to win the hearts of the public? When Team USA’s Emma Weber lost her sim cap during the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, the world was introduced to its first unexpected hero of the games: Bob the Cap Catcher–a.k.a the guy who goes into the pool and fishes out people’s lost swim caps. Maybe it was the novelty of learning that this is a real job someone has to do, or maybe it was the colorful speedo in which he chose to do it, but Bob quickly became a meme after he was seen strutting his stuff alongside the Olympic pool looking for errant caps. 
 


If the confidence it takes to have a normal body while in the presence of Olympic swimmers wasn’t enough to catapult Bob to icon status, the fact that most of us learned who he was from Snoop Dogg’s commentary–“That’s Bob! That’s my guy, Bob the Cap Catcher!”–certainly solidified him as one of Paris 2024’s coolest characters. May we all remember Bob next time we feel the urge to put on a t-shirt at the beach.


Silver: Anthony Ammirati, a.k.a the French Pole Vaulter Who Hit His Dick





What is the second-best thing to winning gold? Some may say silver, but after this year’s Olympics, I’d say the greater prize is letting the whole world know about your massive French schlong. French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati went mega-viral after a video of his pole hitting the crossbar vaulted across the internet. The combination of an attractive French man, a huge penis, and the commentators’ difficulty in describing what had just taken place made the moment the stuff of online Olympics legend. So much so that Ammirati has since responded on TikTok, posting a video of himself eating and staring mindlessly into the abyss, paired with Spongebob audio and the text “POV: tu fais plus de buzz pour non paquet que pour tes perfs,” which translates to “You create more buzz for your package than your performances.”
 




@anthonyammirati Je sais pas trop si je dois le prendre bien ou pas du coup 😂 #olympics #paris2024 ♬ sad SpongeBob music – michael






At least he’s taking it in stride. And if he chooses to join the other Olympians on OnlyFans now that the games are done, we will support him. 


Gold: B-Girl Raygun, the Australian Breaker 




@trendingman69 Watch full performance of Ray Gunn #olympics #raygun #breakdance ♬ The Olympic Theme – Paul Brooks




 


Simone Biles may be the GOAT when it comes to actual athletics, but when it comes to unintentional meme generation, there is one Olympian who rose above the rest. I’m speaking, of course, about B-Girl Raygun, the Australian breakdancer who may or may not have ever breakdanced before. Raygun’s performance–which included kangaroo hops and the sprinkler–may have earned her a whopping 0 points in the Olympics’ first-ever (and last) breaking competition, but who cares about points when you can have a far more valuable prize? Likes.


Despite the Olympics being over, Raygun is still being meme-ed far and wide. Just a casual glance at TikTok will show the discourse is still discoursing over how she made it onto the Olympic team, and multiple articles are still dropping daily as Raygun and her supporters try to “defend” her performance. The sheer volume of Raygun-related content was enough to win her the gold. The fact that she was parodied on The Tonight Show by Rachel Dratch and is still creating discourse well after the end of the Games from TikTokkers alleging she used her personal connections to get on the team is honestly just a victory lap at this point. 


Honorable Mention: The Chinese Gymnast Who Had No Idea why People Were Biting Their Medals





If you can’t go viral for your speedo confidence, giant schlong, or kangaroo hops, there is always another route: a moment of genuine confusion. Chinese gymnast Zhou Yanquin earned the internet’s most coveted title–“relatable”–when she was caught genuinely perplexed as her fellow medalists posed while biting their medals. (Why do they do that?!?) The moment wasn’t enough for her to make it on the podium this year, but I’m sure her silver medal in balance beam is a fine consolation prize.


Meme Generation (Aspirational)


Now onto the less noble way of earning your Meme Medal: being genuinely good at your sport. This year’s Olympics were full of awe-inspiring moments, but it takes more than simply being the best in the world to win at meme generation. It takes a unique combination of talent, charisma, style, and je ne sais quoi to truly become an aspirational meme. These three medalists have all that in droves. So much so that I–an avowed “take all the guns” person–briefly considered taking up shooting.


Bronze: South Korean Shooter Kim Ye-Ji



 


You’ve heard of good guys with guns. You’ve heard of bad guys with guns. Now let me introduce you to…Badass Korean Women with Guns. Shooter Kim Ye-Ji took home the gold in the 25m pistol event this year, but not before securing bronze in meme generation (aspirational) for her badass performance and general “Trinity from The Matrix” vibes. It’s the little glasses. It’s the backward cap. It’s the stone-cold “never fuck with me” look on her face as she one-handed shoots a pistol better than any Second Amendment-loving American ever could. Turns out, guns are cool (when properly used in the context of a sporting event and not as unregulated death machines handed out en masse to an entire population). Who knew?!? 


Silver: Stephen Nedoroscik, a.k.a Pommel Horse Guy





Stephen Nedoroscik–a.k.a Pommel Horse Guy–took an early lead in this year’s competition after videos of our bespectacled pommel prince napping on the sidelines during the Olympics went viral. Quickly, a narrative emerged that made Nedoroscik the stuff of viral legend. Turns out, Stephen is the USA Men’s Gymnastics Team’s pommel horse ringer, meaning he is only on the team to do pommel horse (because he’s just that good at pommel horse). Adding to his meme-ability is the fact that Nedoroscik wears glasses for an eye condition known as strabismus, which he takes off when pommel horsing, leading the internet to dub him the “Clark Kent” of the Olympics. And his generally delightful on-camera person doesn’t hurt either. 
 





Ultimately, Nedoroscik took home the bronze in the pommel horse, making him the fourth American man since World War II to medal in the event, and his victory helped the USA Men’s Gymnastics Team take home another bronze for the first time since 2008. But obviously it’s his silver medal in meme generation (aspirational) that he’ll be shining before bed tonight.


Gold: Simone Biles for Being Herself





I mean…she’s Simone Biles. Everything she does is–for lack of a better word–iconic. But the moment when she and Jordan Chiles (#JusticeForJordanChiles) bowed to Brazilian gold medalist Rebecca Andrade on the first-ever all-Black women’s gymnastics podium was enough to earn her yet another gold. It takes a lot to be the GOAT, but to be a gracious GOAT? That’s the stuff of meme legend. Combine that with the fact that this video of her being elegantly caught off guard is now a CapCut template and Ms. Biles just earned herself another gold. 
 


Honorable mention: Turkish Shooter Yusuf Dikec







If Kim Ye-Ji won the hearts of shooting enthusiasts with her kickass gear and professional demeanor, Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec won it with his “I just kind of wandered in here and picked up a gun” vibe. Dikec–who ultimately took silver in the mixed team 10-meter air pistol event–went viral for shooting with one hand in his pocket, no specialized glasses, and no specialized ear protection. Unfortunately, his post-game Twitter behavior revealed that he is an Elon Musk stan, which led to a massive deduction in points.



 


Hopefully, he can fix this terrible affliction before LA 2028. 


Social Media Artistic Performance


Thus far we’ve celebrated the Olympians who went viral after others posted about them, but what about the brave Olympians who posted through it themselves? While TikTok existed during the 2020 Olympics, the COVID-afflicted games meant less time in the Olympic village for content creation. This year, TikTok took center stage as our Gen-Z/Zillennial Olympians proved their digital native status with hilarious posts of their own. The medals for best posters go to…


Bronze: Team USA Rugby Star Ilona Maher




@ilonamaher Champions Park #paris2024 #olympics #bronze ♬ Crazy in Love – Beyoncé,Jay-Z






At an Olympics marred by bizarre policing of its women athletes and their perceived femininity, Team USA Rugby player Ilona Maher dared to do the impossible: be hot and strong and funny all at the same time. In addition to helping USA Rugby win its first-ever bronze medal, Maher went viral throughout the games for her candid videos from the Olympic Village, iconic red lip, and generally fun vibe. She comes away from this year’s games with her own first-ever Olympic medal, two million followers on TikTok, an interview on Drew Afualo’s podcast, and an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. And she did it all while promoting women’s athleticism and body positivity. We in the ‘biz call that a quadruple-vault twist. 
 


Silver: The Simone Biles vs. MyKayla Skinner Drama





Every Olympics, the USA Women’s Gymnastics team gives itself a nickname. This year, that nickname was Team “F Around and Find Out.” (Though the “official” name, Biles said, was The Golden Girls, since they’re the oldest-ever USA gymnastics team.) And “find out” MyKayla Skinner did. The drama began pre-Olympics when Skinner posted a social media apology after suggesting in a YouTube live that the current USA Gymnastics team (with the exception of Biles) doesn’t have the “work ethic” of previous iterations. An embarrassing claim, made even more embarrassing when they took gold in the team finals (casual reminder that Skinner’s team took silver behind Russia in 2021). After the win, Biles posted a picture of the team with the caption “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.” This led to Skinner blocking Biles, which led to Biles posting “oop I’ve been blocked,” which led to Skinner posting a four-minute IG video where she said she was being bullied and begged Biles to stop. And thus, the world’s honest-to-god Olympic IG beef was born. Also, a sobering reminder that Olympic gymnasts are like, max 27 years old. 


Gold: Italian Gymnast/Parmesan Cheese Influencer Giorgia Villa






 






















View this post on Instagram














































 


A post shared by Giorgina 🌹 (@giorgiavilla23)








Sorry Sha’Carrie Richardson x Nike, but there is only one piece of Olympic spon that truly went the distance online this year. Gymnast Giorgia Villa may have taken silver in the women’s team final, but she scored gold with her previous decision to collab with parmesan cheese. Yes, that’s right–an Italian Olympian was once the Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese ambassador. 


After Villa helped win Italy the silver—a feat the country hasn’t achieved in team gymnastics since 1928—the promotional photos of Villa from her 2021 partnership with Parmesan went viral. Some may say that Villa’s win here is an upset against household names like Biles and Maher, but her scores for virality, hilarity, and overall Say What-itude were high enough to earn her yet another slightly soft golden wheel. 


Honorable mention: Norwegian Swimmer Henrik Christiansen and his chocolate muffins. 




@henrikchristians1 I don’t think you guys realize how good this stuff is #fyp #zipline #olympics #paris2024 #olympictiktok #olympicvillage #muffins @Mr.Nicho ♬ original sound – I think you should leave shop






Henrik Christiansen loved the chocolate muffins in the Olympic Village. Like really loved them. His viral muffin-centric content racked in millions of views and dubbed him “the muffin man.” Unfortunately, he did not make it to the podium this year as we are unclear whether or not he’ll be able to keep the muffin schtick going past the games. There’s always 2028!


All-Around Meme Machine


Bronze: Pommel Horse Guy


The Olympics’ Clark Kent burst onto the scene this year putting both himself and his sport on the map. If he’s able to keep up the social media momentum, we see a bright–perhaps even golden– future for him in Los Angeles in 2028. 


Silver: Simone Biles


The GOAT delivered on all fronts this year. Not only did she–once again–set the standard for athletic performance and grace at the podium, but she reached new heights in social media pettiness and online drama, setting a new standard for what people who are actively competing in the Olympics are capable of. And my boss says I can’t be on my phone and working at the same time… 


Gold: The Australian Breaker 


Who says B-Girl Raygun is a disgrace to her sport now? By the sheer force of her meme-ability, Raygun snatched gold this year right out of the hands of actual athletes and placed herself squarely in the annals of Olympic Meme History. 


Honorable mention: Snoop Dogg & Flava Flav 


Give whoever thought to bring on Snoop Dogg and Flava Flav as Olympic commentators/hype men every raise possible. I challenge anyone to find a sport that cannot be made more delightful by their presence, and I cannot wait to see what they bring to the games when they’re on Snoop’s home turf in 2028. Because, of course, they’re both coming back for the games in 2028, right!?!? RIGHT?!?




There you have it, folks–our 2023 Meme Olympians. I can only imagine their parents, coaches, and social media managers are very, very proud. Looking ahead, I hope the Winter Olympians in Salt Lake in 2026 are ready to bring it as hard online as they do on the mountain. This could be just the thing the Winter Olympics need to finally catapult them into summer star status. 
 
 




 
 
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