By Noor Jehan Ansari
2021 saw the summer of the “TikTok Olympian.” In a year where the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games were closed to the public due to the pandemic, TikTok users got behind-the-scenes footage from athletes themselves through short, vlog-style videos. USA women’s rugby player, Ilona Maher, quickly gained social media attention with her videos in the Village. The 24-year-old posted a video in which she tested out the famous cardboard beds given to the athletes, which received over 7.3 million views. 19-year-old Australian diver Sam Fricker gained over 12 million views on his diving videos. Fricker would end up posting about 10 times a day, replying to questions about the day-to-day life of the athletes, such as how they do their laundry, what meals they eat and if they have a curfew or free time. Some media companies have already started to capitalize off of the success of the Olympics on TikTok. NBCUniversal is now partnering with the app to advertise its coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The question is, will audiences still have an appetite for first-hand experience through the athletes themselves this winter? Also, who are the next Olympians to watch out for, in both the competitions and online?
Since both Maher and Fricker had significant followings on social media before their time in Tokyo, it’s worthwhile to look at athletes that are currently active on TikTok. USA snowboarder Chloe Kim was the youngest woman to win gold at the 2018 women’s snowboarding halfpipe competition and at just 17 years old. As of right now, she only has four videos posted to TikTok (@chloekim), three of them being snowboarding videos. But the 21-year-old already has about 46,000 followers. Her bio reads “before u ask me ‘hOW aRe YoU vERiFied?!’ I won a contest called the Olympics 🥰.” 16-year-old women’s figure skater, Alysa Liu (@philorpaul), currently has about 65,000 followers on TikTok. Yet, her content has very little to do with figure skating and mostly consists of dances with her friends and jokes about her favorite anime shows. We are excited to see If Kim or Liu decide to post on TikTok during their time in the Games. Kim has the potential to get serious views posting content about her training, competitions and videos of her snowboarding achievements. Liu on the other hand could give us more of a laid-back, social insight into life in the Olympic Village.
Many Olympic athletes become household names every year without social media, but the notoriety they get for competing often makes them appear untouchable to the general public. In Summer 2021, Olympic life and the personalities of the athletes were up close and personal. In a video Maher posted about trying to flirt with the other athletes, @well.hereweare commented “i still can’t get over that i’m seeing LITERALLY OLYMPIANS post about flirting and food on tiktok i love this sm.” TikTok has given audiences the realization that Olympians are just everyday people. They eat, drink, go to parties and are getting an education. This created a relatable and wholesome atmosphere that over 18 million users couldn’t get enough of.
The “TikTok Olympian” gave a refreshing snapshot of normalcy during the pandemic last summer. Because people could not see the Olympics in person, young people flocked to the internet to try to replicate the experience. Except for this time, they got a unique backstage pass to the entire Olympic experience. The positive upbeat nature of the athletes training together, sharing meals and enjoying life gave audiences a much-needed escape and sense of community. This year’s Olympic athletes are also some of the first Gen Z Olympians who grew up with social media and vlog culture. They have absorbed the ability to execute videos that people will be interested in, and the ones that grew exponentially during their time in Tokyo have been able to maintain their social media presence. Maher and the USA rugby team didn’t win medals last summer, but after her time in the Games, she amassed about 850,000 TikTok followers and continues to share her journey on social media, spreading nothing but good vibes. Only six months later, audiences will most likely be craving that comforting content again with a new wave of athletes and stories to be shared with them.
