When TikTok goes backstage at the Olympic Games

Who said that only pop culture protagonists are destined to become TikTok famous? For a few weeks now, social networks have been inundated with videos of athletes preparing for the Paris Olympic Games who turn into influencers for a video, unboxing kilos and kilos of packages received from various sports brands. Evy Leibfarth, for example, a canoeist who will compete this year in the Olympics for Team U.S.A., has filmed herself several times unboxing sports bags and suitcases always full to the brim with clothes received from sponsoring brands. And she is not the only one. Many young athletes, enthusiastic about this new life under the spotlight filled with gifts and surprises, have chosen to share these presents with their community via videos that have gone viral on the internet, sometimes arousing envy from the most jealous. It is no secret that major brands have been sponsoring the Olympic Games and its active participants since the dawn of time. However, this new advertising channel and this new way of promoting products in an innocent, even surreptitious manner, promises brands a new audience of engaged fans who may not even realize they are the target.

Nike, Lululemon, Skims, Asics, and Ralph Lauren are among the many brands that have opted for the giant bag strategy filled with sports outfits and accessories that almost systematically end up in a TikTok haul. Because yes, "sports stars are the new superstars", as the New York Times would say. Tayleb Willis, for example, a young Australian who participates in the 110-meter hurdles, now has more than 620,000 followers on TikTok and does not hesitate to show his haul to his followers and even play with it. Even the staff members of the athletes are pampered and do not hesitate to share it. Paris 2024 has even been described as the "biggest fashion Olympic Games", probably thanks to its sponsorship by LVMH, the largest fashion conglomerate in the world. Since the opening of the Olympic Village, athletes have not only contented themselves with hauls but have also started to document and share their lives in this kind of international summer camp, giving the event an unexpected reality TV twist. Some Olympians even started their documentation before their arrival at the Olympic Village, vlogging their entire journey from their home country to Paris. Once arrived, room tours were quickly filmed and published, unveiling the athletes' accommodation. Some show how they have decorated the room that will host them for the next few weeks, while others have even broken the intimacy barrier by showing their messy room or dirty laundry.

Ilona Maher, a rugby player for the U.S. team, was "the star of the Tokyo Olympics on TikTok", according to Rollo Goldstaub, head of sports partnerships for the app - now with over a million followers and garnering over 95 million likes. These Olympic Games can therefore be considered the first true TikTok Olympic Games. Launched a month after the Rio 2016 Games, it was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, held in 2021 due to a Covid delay, that the platform first tasted gold. Today, it "truly is part of the sports industry and ecosystem", said Mr. Goldstaub. Sports is now one of the top five most popular categories in terms of audience on TikTok, a booming sector. Moreover, unlike the World Cup where athletes are already well-known and earn quite a substantial salary, this is not the case for all Olympic participants. This new wave of TikTok athletes could thus allow some to come out of the shadows and gain well-deserved visibility. But the trend goes beyond the Olympic Games. Between tenniscore or the pilates trend that literally exploded on the app, sports are omnipresent and glamorized on social networks. In any case, if social networks can be useful for once and encourage young people to grab their pair of sports shoes to imitate their favorite TikToker, we certainly intend to let them do so and encourage the trend.