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Monday, August 05, 2024 10:17:43 AM
Olympics Briefing: The Athlete as Meme
of South Korea. Charles Mcquillan/Getty Images
Author Headshot
By Andrew Keh
Reporting from Paris
It was the video that launched a thousand Halloween costume ideas.
An Olympic shooter in a sporty, chic ensemble — black tracksuit, backward baseball cap, futuristic eyewear — raises her pistol and fires a shot. She appears insouciant throughout, while an announcer chirps excitedly about her score.
Like any internet phenomenon, you kind of need to see it in its natural habitat to get it.
The clip was not actually filmed in Paris but rather earlier this year in Azerbaijan, and hardly anyone knew the athlete’s name: Kim Yeji of South Korea. And yet the video has been viewed tens of millions of times and wrangled into countless social media posts, giving rise to a very 21st-century Olympic star.
The Olympics have clambered to stay relevant, adding events like breaking and skateboarding and climbing in recent years to lure eyeballs from the younger generations. But the saving grace of the Games, in the end, may be their seemingly infinite meme-ability.
As the past week in Paris has made clear, the social media era has spawned a new sort of celebrity Olympian: anonymous, ephemeral, more famous as effigy than athlete.
In 2012, the American gymnast McKayla Maroney, in a moment of disappointment, pursed her lips to one side — a fleeting spasm of muscle that sparked memes, commercial opportunities and, eventually, a photo with President Obama.
Four years later arrived the “Shirtless Tongan,” Pita Taufatofua, whose modest achievements in an assortment of sports (taekwondo, cross-country skiing and canoe) were outshined by his perpetually glistening torso.
This kind of fame — happenstance, ironic, digitally induced — has touched several athletes in Paris, like the American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, renowned by some now as “nerdy pommel horse guy.”
But the most interesting development has been all the clicks devoted to the shooters, who typically compete far from the big stage. The Turkish pistol shooter Yusuf Dikec had his own 15 minutes of virality, as have Jiang Ranxin of China and Choe Daehan of South Korea, all for basically aiming their guns the way they always do.
It’s all in good fun, but the avalanche of memes can make you forget that these are corporeal beings who exist offline.
Kim, who has won a silver medal already, competes again on Friday with the start of the 25-meter pistol events. Check it out. She’ll probably look cool doing it.
But she’s good at it, too.
of South Korea. Charles Mcquillan/Getty Images
Author Headshot
By Andrew Keh
Reporting from Paris
It was the video that launched a thousand Halloween costume ideas.
An Olympic shooter in a sporty, chic ensemble — black tracksuit, backward baseball cap, futuristic eyewear — raises her pistol and fires a shot. She appears insouciant throughout, while an announcer chirps excitedly about her score.
Like any internet phenomenon, you kind of need to see it in its natural habitat to get it.
?The most "Main Character Energy" I've ever seen in my life.pic.twitter.com/ExuXVxB3VB
— Del (@TheCartelDel) July 30, 2024
The clip was not actually filmed in Paris but rather earlier this year in Azerbaijan, and hardly anyone knew the athlete’s name: Kim Yeji of South Korea. And yet the video has been viewed tens of millions of times and wrangled into countless social media posts, giving rise to a very 21st-century Olympic star.
The Olympics have clambered to stay relevant, adding events like breaking and skateboarding and climbing in recent years to lure eyeballs from the younger generations. But the saving grace of the Games, in the end, may be their seemingly infinite meme-ability.
As the past week in Paris has made clear, the social media era has spawned a new sort of celebrity Olympian: anonymous, ephemeral, more famous as effigy than athlete.
In 2012, the American gymnast McKayla Maroney, in a moment of disappointment, pursed her lips to one side — a fleeting spasm of muscle that sparked memes, commercial opportunities and, eventually, a photo with President Obama.
Four years later arrived the “Shirtless Tongan,” Pita Taufatofua, whose modest achievements in an assortment of sports (taekwondo, cross-country skiing and canoe) were outshined by his perpetually glistening torso.
This kind of fame — happenstance, ironic, digitally induced — has touched several athletes in Paris, like the American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, renowned by some now as “nerdy pommel horse guy.”
But the most interesting development has been all the clicks devoted to the shooters, who typically compete far from the big stage. The Turkish pistol shooter Yusuf Dikec had his own 15 minutes of virality, as have Jiang Ranxin of China and Choe Daehan of South Korea, all for basically aiming their guns the way they always do.
It’s all in good fun, but the avalanche of memes can make you forget that these are corporeal beings who exist offline.
Kim, who has won a silver medal already, competes again on Friday with the start of the 25-meter pistol events. Check it out. She’ll probably look cool doing it.
But she’s good at it, too.
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