
During the last weeks of July and the first week of August 2021, all eyes were on the athletes representing their countries at the Tokyo Olympics. Several of them have taken to breaking records on social media too, with viral videos and thousands, if not millions of followers on Tiktok and Instagram. Here are some of the Olympians who went big on social media.
Margielyn Didal
The infectious positivity of the 22-year-old skateboarder from the Philippines gained her a following of 1.5 million on TikTok and 740k on Instagram. Her video dancing at the Olympic skateboarding venue reached a staggering 19.5 million views!
@margiedidal 🇵🇭
♬ Star Song – Sally Sossa & Lil Durk
Courntey Hurley
A three-time Olympian, Hurley gave viewers a peek into life at the Olympic village and participated in the TikTok trend of showcasing the team’s problems. But her defining social media moment was when Hurley received 3.3 million views on a lip-syncing video with the caption “When you get everyone hyped to watch your Olympic match only to lose badly.”
@thishurleygurrl Tough day at the office ##tokyoolympics ##olympics ##teamusa ##olympicspirit ##olympicgames ##fyp ##foryoupage
♬ original sound – Lachlan Sutherland
Erik Shoji
Bronze medallist Erik Shoji has 1.1 million views on a video documenting arrival procedures at the Tokyo airport. He frequently participates in social media challenges and trends featuring his teammates.
@thelibero Arriving in Tokyo! ##usavolleyball ##olympics ##tokyo ##tokyo2020 ##tokyo2021
♬ Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes
Silvia Solymosyva
She may not be an Olympian yet, but 18-year-old Slovakian artistic swimmer Silvia Solymosyva gained a following of 1.2 million in TikTok. She posts dancing videos, duets with other users, and Q&As about synchronized swimming—all underwater!
@sisa_solymosyova don’t ask me to collect streaks🔥! I prefer DMs & voice messages ##snapchatstreaks ##underwatertiktok ##sisasolymosyova
♬ original sound – Jacob Sutherland