Inside Olympic Village: TikTok gives fans an unprecedented glimpse

Life in none of the Olympic villages has been as accessible to fans as in Paris 2024. This is all thanks to the athletes’ coverage on TikTok.

The Paris Olympics were the first games during which TikTok was highly present. The app launched a month after the competition in Rio in 2016. During Tokyo 2021 (held a year later due to the pandemic), athletes' posts on TikTok gained popularity, but it is Paris 2024 that brought full synergy. Rollo Goldstaub, head of sports partnerships at the app, told The Guardian Weekly that sports is currently one of the five most popular categories among viewers.

One of the people who attracted the largest audience is undoubtedly the rugby player from the USA team, Ilona Maher. She entered the Olympic village with confidence and a mission—well, maybe two; she definitely wants a medal as well. However, Maher's first video from Paris is titled "I'm setting out to find love in the Olympic village." The rugby player decided to treat the Games in Paris like the reality show "Love Island."

Maher posts many episodes of "Olympic Love Island" on TikTok, which have gone viral. She showed that in her team tracksuit, she looks like Sue Sylvester from Glee and tested the famous cardboard beds with her teammates. She posted a TikTok with Snoop Dogg, who one of the American TV stations sent to Paris as a correspondent. She also publishes more serious content about body diversity in sports and life and the positive role of carbohydrates as a source of energy.

Another viral TikTok from the Olympic village in Paris was made by Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns. The video features athletes from Fiji singing gospel. Kearns wrote: "Being among all these different cultures is the best."

For much more down-to-earth reasons, videos by French swimmer Florent Manaudou have gone viral. The athlete knows how to serve "thirst traps." The most popular one shows him combining his "ritual" of spitting water from the pool before the start with the "Hawk Tuah girl" Hailey Welch, whose rapid career we recently wrote about.

For a long time, the undisputed social media star has been British diver Tom Daley. The gold medalist of the Tokyo Games is in Paris with his husband and children. And, of course, with his indispensable knitting needles and yarn. Daley uses his free time during competitions to catch up on his knitting projects.

Thanks to the athletes' coverage from the Olympic Village, we know that the dining hall is open 24 hours a day, and the windows in the rooms where they stay do not have curtains or drapes. The atmosphere is somewhat reminiscent of a summer camp for high school students. For example, an obligatory part of the program is trading metal pins with athletes from other countries, with many people aiming to collect them from all national teams.