Noah Lyles, Kim Yeji and Payton Otterdahl at the Paris Olympics 2024
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Summer 2024 in Paris hasn’t just seen the city bloom with Olympian athleticism; it’s also basking in an infectious wave of otaku energy. The 2024 Olympics have been peppered with a barrage of tributes and homages to Japanese pop culture, with athletes across disciplines striking poses and performing rituals that would make even the most seasoned weeb smile knowingly.
Take, for instance, America’s fleet-footed dynamo Noah Lyles. As the “world’s fastest otaku” lined up at the starting block during his qualifiers in June, he nonchalantly pulled out a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, and theatrically summons the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon.
The pre-race quirk of sorts seemed to have channelled him with the energy to propel Lyles forward with otherworldly shounen speed that has now landed him the Olympic gold in the men’s 100-metre final in a jaw-dropping 9.78 seconds. Wrapped in stars and stripes, Lyles capped off his win with a triumphant Kamehameha pose from Dragon Ball.
The French fencing team, hot off their bronze medal win, seems to have taken this Goku-inspired spirit to heart, performing a synchronised Kamehameha in a scene of pure anime gold, with the stadium roaring in approval.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Ball Ultra Instinct theme also played in the stadium before the 400m mixed relay race.
Switching sports, the German volleyball player Tobias Krick brought his favourite plushie, Tsukishima from Haikyuu!!, to his games, mirroring his animated counterpart’s role as a blocker.
Volleyball itself has seen an unexpected surge in popularity, thanks in no small part to Haikyuu!!. A Mainichi poll revealed that Gen Z viewers overwhelmingly chose volleyball as their Olympic favourite, lured by the anime’s dynamic portrayal of the sport.
In Paris this year, the Japanese Men’s Volleyball team was even greeted with Haikyuu!!’s intro song in Paris, with fans showing up in cosplay, turning the stands into a delightful mix of jocks and otakus.
American shot putter Payton Otterdahl added his own page to this Olympic anime anthology. Emulating Luffy from One Piece, Otterdahl’s pre-competition ritual involved mimicking the pirate’s Gear Fourth Boundman form, seemingly giving him superhuman strength for a near-podium finish.
Chinese rifle shooter Zhang Qiongyue also stole hearts with her viral Hello Kitty-adorned rifle, making headlines and turning her weapon into the cutest meme machine on social media.
And then there was the British 4×400 Mixed Relay team. Fresh from their bronze medal win, they celebrated by forming the hand sign for Gojo’s Domain Expansion from Jujutsu Kaisen.
British 4×400 Mixed Relay team celebrate their podium finish with Gojo’s hand sign from Jujutsu Kaisen
| Photo Credit:
BBC
But the sensations that took the internet by storm the most at this year’s Olympics hailed from the competitive shooting events. South Korea’s Kim Yeji, a silver medalist in the 10-metre air pistol event, inspired fans to create anime-style posters celebrating her “main character energy”.
Meanwhile, Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, with his unassuming, gearless Olympic getup, became an Internet sensation dubbed “Uncle Free-to-Play,” his image immortalised in manga tributes that captured his unique charm.
Even South Korean shooter Choe Dae-han’s stylish posture, earning him 7th place in the 10m air rifle event, was reimagined by fans in the style of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures.
However, the anime-fueled spectacles at the Paris Olympics aren’t the first time athletes have flexed their inner weeb on the world stage. Rewind to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou launched himself into Luffy’s Gear Second pose straight out of One Piece, snatching gold in the process. Italian race walker Massimo Stano, struck a similar stance, and also walked away with gold.
Otterdahl himself shot to fame for the first time that year, having performed Franky’s “SUPER!” pose from One Piece before hurling his way into the finals.
Most recently, Italian runner Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli channeled his inner pirate by striking Luffy’s Gear 5 pose before the 110m hurdles semifinal in Paris. Though he missed the podium, he had earlier bagged silver at the European Championship in Rome, where he upped the ante with a “Nika” pose, draped in the Italian flag, straw hat perched jauntily atop his head, boldly proclaiming himself as Monkey D. Luffy incarnate.
If anything, the Paris Olympics seem to be proof that anime has levelled up from niche, nerdy obsession to a global phenomenon, effortlessly fusing with the grandeur of the world’s greatest sporting event.
