All the reasons why Italian athletes are going viral online

Every year it’s the same story. First, the Tokyo Olympics, with Marcell Jacobs and Gianmarco Tamberi embracing after winning two gold medals on the same track within minutes of each other, then the European football championships, with players becoming living memes on and off the field - if you missed the post-victory visit of the national team, hungover, to President Mattarella, you’re in for a treat. Italy in sports always makes itself known, and not just because they win. Even at the Paris 2024 Olympics, among medals, our athletes are going viral for various reasons that make them unique. In recent days, while swimmers Thomas Ceccon and Nicolò Martinenghi brought home two golds in the 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter breaststroke, the social audience was busy reposting and commenting on their physical appearance. «Watching the Olympics for "the plot"» (Watching the Olympics for "the plot"), wrote dozens of users, sharing montages of the Olympians not during the swims that brought them victory, but during interviews, award ceremonies, and entering the pool. Add in the TikTok aura trend, and the Italian swimming team has once again captured the hearts of the Olympic audience from every nationality.

While in Italy some of the nation's strongest female athletes went viral for the wrong reasons, with the unpleasant comments that former fencer Elisa Di Francisca directed at 19-year-old Benedetta Pilato, who was happy to finish fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke final, and the controversial headline by Repubblica "the friend of Diletta Leotta, the Frenchwoman, the psychologist and the mom" announcing the gold of the women's fencing team, the rest of the world was having fun. With the title "Of Course This Italian Gymnast Has a Parmesan Sponsorship", American magazine The Cut explores the reasons that drove the digital Olympics audience to fall in love with gymnast Giorgia Villa and her (now former, the latest photos date back to 2022) partnership with Parmigiano Reggiano. The collaboration itself is a peak for cheese-loving foreigners, but it's the images from the campaign that made the athlete a standout in the history of viral content. Splits on parmesan wheels, a hug around a wheel almost as big as she is: the sponsorship photos are an example to follow for all Italian brands seeking to make a mark abroad.

To be honest, we knew well that Italy would win plenty of medals in likes and shares again this year. Right after the opening ceremony, Gianmarco Tamberi shared an Instagram post apologizing to his wife for losing his wedding ring in the Seine while carrying the tricolor flag high, with a highly emotional description destined to go viral: «I’m so sorry my love, I’m so terribly sorry. I think there can be a huge poetic side behind yesterday’s mishap and if you want, we’ll also throw yours in that river so they’ll always be together and we’ll have one more excuse, as you’ve always asked me, to renew our vows and marry again. [...] May it be a good omen to come home with an even bigger gold!!!». His entrance on the track at the Olympics is scheduled for August 7, for the high jump final, while his sprinter colleague Marcell Jacobs will compete in the qualifiers on Saturday, August 3. Who knows if we’ll see some great things this time as well.