2024 Paris Olympic Games: Biggest viral moments

Every country loves their gold medal moments but at every Olympics there are occasions that unite global audiences in laughter or confusion. These are Paris’ most viral moments.

Despite the Olympics being a global event we all tend to focus on the success of our individual countries and the gold medal moments that inspire us.

Other moments, however, have the ability to cut through the patriotism that divides nations and resonate with Olympics lovers on a global scale.

These are the viral moments that got the world talking throughout the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The blue smurf of Paris

It was the moment in the opening ceremony that rendered commentators speechless. A portly man painted in blue and draped in strings of flower and fruit. His name was Gédéon, a French artist, and he was apparently embodying the Greek God Dionysus. To the millions of people watching along at home he was a naked blue smurf and they had no idea how he fit into the narrative of the historic Paris Olympics opener.

The speechless moment of the opening ceremony came when Gédéon, a French artist, embodied the Greek God Dionysus.

Finals hopes ruined by a penis

French pole-vaulter Anthony Ammirati became the talk of the athletics track after suffering the unfortunate fate of knocking the bar off with his penis. Vision of the Frenchman’s intrusive baguette got fans chuckling around the world, but Ammirati wasn’t laughing when he failed to qualify for the final of the event after three failed attempts to clear the bar at 5.70m. He was so close to clearing the bar with his second attempt that every part of his body had successfully vaulted — except his bothersome manhood.

Undone by his own penis... French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati wasn't happy to miss finals.

Move over Marchand … The dad bod is here

Paris La Defence Arena has delivered, arguably, the atmosphere of the Games. The swimming every night was electric in the converted rugby stadium with its drop-in pool. While French gold medal hero Léon Marchand frequently drew 100+ decibel cheers from the packed crowd, there was one other man who became one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the swimming program. Enter dad bod guy. A random Olympics official who stripped to his undies and dived into the pool between races to retrieve a stray swimming cap. The crowd went wild. An Olympic here was born.

This dad bod drew some of the biggest cheers at the swimming.

Cameraman chaos in 5000m race

As a cameraman at the Olympics you have two jobs: Get the shot and don’t get in the way. Unfortunately for this snapper he forgot about the second part of his job and completely disrupted the men’s 5000m heats when he wandered aimlessly across the athletics track as the heat was being staged. The pack of racers was forced to split around the misplaced cameraman as commentators around the world were left stunned.

This cameraman drew global condemnation after getting in the way of the men's 500m heat.

Sharp shooter becomes instant legend

Turkish athlete Yusuf Dikec made headlines around the world after stepping up to the 10m air pistol mixed team event and shooting for silver with none of the fancy equipment other professionals use. The nonchalant 51 year old simply stepped up to his mark, hand in pocket, aimed and fired. No fancy eyewear, no ear muffs. “I never needed that equipment,” he said. “I am a natural shooter.” Dikec became an instant meme as the world revelled in his laid-back approach to the sport.

Yusuf Dikec became an overnight sensation with his no-nonsense approach.

Two divers become one

It’s no secret that China produces the best divers in the world but two of their athletes took it to another level in the women’s synchronised 10m platform final. Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi produced such a flawless dive that fans watching at home thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. When viewed from the side, Hongchan and Yuxi were in such perfect formation it appeared as if just one athlete was diving, not two.

Believe it or not, there are actually two divers in this image.

Vegan village falls flat with athletes

Welcome to the Vegan Games. Paris 2024 officials promised the Games promised to halve the carbon footprint of each meal served to an athlete and, in a bid to do that, made 60 per cent of food served in the village vegan. That agenda became immediately problematic as athletes complained of being hungry and unable to get enough food to compete at the highest levels. Organisers eventually caved and ordered an extra tonne of red meat and 700kg of eggs.

Originally published as 2024 Paris Olympic Games: Biggest viral moments