The viral moments we'll remember from the 2024 Paris Games

The Summer Games in Paris had something for everyone. Even if you couldn't care less about sports, the memes were golden and celebrities were out in full force, from Celine Dion to Tom Cruise.

Today on Commotion, culture editor Mel Woods, media personality Mark Strong and culture writer Chris Murphy join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to look back on the most entertaining moments and memes from the last two weeks, and look ahead to what may be the starriest summer Olympics ever: L.A. 2028.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Mel, the Olympics showcase both athletic talent and celebrity star power. Who has captured your heart when you think about these athletes, maybe as celebrities?

Mel: It's interesting. You see the people that you're expecting, like Simone Biles — she's going to be a star, we know that, and she delivers…. I just loved to watch this attitude of passing the torch, bowing down to Rebeca Andrade on the podium, while also still continuing to dominate and get another move named after her. That's the best we can hope for.

You see Canadian people that had so much expectation of them, like Summer McIntosh, who is a teenager — like, that is a child — and with the weight of expectation put on her to deliver the excellent performance that you're expecting is just so magical and exciting to see. The surprises, the men's relay team, like those are superstars here in Canada—

Elamin: Yeah, with the gold!

Mel: —and not really anybody expecting that to happen, except for them. I love seeing those moments paired with the internet culture of it all. But the actual outstanding athletes on the field, living up to those expectations, you have to get that little glow. You start singing the national anthem to yourself. Maybe sports are good?

Elamin: Maybe nationalism is fine?

Mel: Only for two weeks every two years, with the Winter Olympics. After that, book closed on nationalism. But for now, I'm still riding the high.

Elamin: Mark, this was the first time that breaking was in the Olympics. Breaking also became a star meme of the Olympics, thanks to the Australian b-girl, Raygun. Maybe she's not the best b-girl there is, but she's out here doing her absolute best. What do you make of the way that she showed up in this competition and the reaction to it?

Mark: It was so bizarre. I was like, I don't know how you got in, who let you keep going, why you got to another round. But more importantly, I think it's really unfortunate. This meme has diminished the purpose of breaking getting into the Olympics, because now everyone's talking about how much of a mockery this was for somebody like that to be an Olympian, as opposed to the incredible works of the Phil Wizards and the Dany Danns and the Nickas who put their effort and time into it. So this whole situation with Raygun, you know her profile has grown. She's got like 50,000 followers now off of something as ridiculous as that performance.

Elamin: I hadn't thought of that dimension: that it becoming a meme could actually serve to diminish a sport that has its first opportunity in the Olympics. And I should say, I led with Raygun. I didn't lead with Phil Wizard winning a gold medal for this country in breaking because Raygun has kind of become the story. But that's what happens when you become the main character for the internet. Chris, who were the other main characters for you as you were watching this Olympics?

Chris: Oh, there were so many…. I've got to shoutout my personal favorite, Mr. Pommel Horse himself, Stephen Nedoroscik, just absolutely nailing it and taking two bronzes for the men's U.S. gymnastics. He has got one job to do, and he slept for most of the games and then woke up and absolutely nailed, and looked like Clark Kent turning into Superman while doing so. 

I also loved Turkish gun guy. Has he killed before? Will he kill again? We don't know, but he absolutely was a big slay coming in silver with no protective gear for that. And then I'm going to say what we're all thinking: Mr. Pole Vault, Anthony Ammirati. His bulge was so large that it sort of knocked the bar off as he was going over, keeping him from getting to the finals of the pole vault. It was potentially the most viral moment, and now he's getting offers from OnlyFans, so I think it'll be okay. But there are a lot of great standout moments for me.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

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