Paris Olympics 2024: The stars who we were all talking about

Is it possible the internet actually made something better?

That might be the case for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Moments that in another era might have gone virtually unnoticed were instead spun into days of memes and memories like we were one big, funny family in on a joke or a touching moment.

These Olympics gave us some unlikely heroes and unearthed sports that are often overlooked. When did we ever show so much interest in pommel horse? And who now wants to take up pistol shooting?

Let's reminisce through the athletes (plus Snoop Dogg) who are forever in our hearts:

Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart

NBC, the US Olympic broadcaster, stuffed their coverage with cameos from every NBC connected celebrity you could think of. Rapper Snoop Dogg was a torchbearer during the opening ceremony and then took up duties as an NBC correspondent.

One of his standout moments was at the equestrian with old friend Martha Stewart. Both were dressed appropriately for the occasion with riding hats and tailed coats, and Snoop was typical Snoop just with horses.

French Baguette

French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati didn't get a podium finish but he might have secured another prize - biggest bulge, or at least the most talked about. On one of his attempts, Ammirati appeared to almost clear the bar only for his junk to well and truly clip it on the way down.

The word pole is in his sport. He is French so, naturally, baguette comes to mind. The internet just couldn't help itself.

Porn site Camsoda offered Ammirati USD $250,000 to disrobe. In a now-deleted post on TikTok, Ammirati seemed to lament there is more buzz for his pole than his performance.

Raygun the Australian b-girl

Australia's womens breaking athlete (yes, it is an Olympic sport for the first and maybe last time) Rachel Gunn, aka Raygun, received zero points from the judges. She hopped like a kangaroo and wore a tracksuit reminiscent of the character Kath from Aussie TV series Kath and Kim.

At first, Gunn was largely criticised for what seemed like a bizarre performance compared to the more break-dancey moves of her competitors.

But, that was yesterday and now more people, including those in the breakdance community, are applauding her unique choreography and confidence to just do her thing.

The boss pistol shooters

South Korea's Kim Yeji looked like a spy assassin with futuristic eyewear. Turkey's Yusuf Dikeç looked like a dad - baggy track pants, t-shirt, glasses, hand casually in pocket - about to take out his daughter's bad boyfriend.

Different looks, same results. Both athletes became viral sensation for their cool demeanour, giving the sport of shooting a rare centre stage.

But this tale of immediate internet fame is a cautionary one. After returning to South Korea, Kim Ye-ji fainted at a press conference. Representatives cited exhaustion following the Olympics.

Pommel Horse Guy

The US's Stephen Nedoroscik appeared to be asleep for much of the men's gymnastic team event while waiting for his discipline. Then, like a Clarke Kent transition to Superman, he took off his glasses, approached the pommel horse and dominated, securing a bronze medal for his team.

The internet has delighted in getting to know Nedoroscik more. The self-confessed nerd seems like a genuinely nice guy who likes Rubix cubes, video games and gymnastics' oddball discipline, pommel horse.

For good measure, he went on to win bronze in the individual pommel horse event.

The Muffin Man

Norway's Henrik Christiansen weighed up between competitive swimming and theatre. Swimming won, but he really chose both thanks to his muffin-focused TikTok account.

Numerous and hilarious videos have Christiansen showing off the oozy chocolate muffins in the Olympic village, often with half of it ending up on his face.

Christiansen didn't medal so instead we will remember him as the self-declared "Muffin Man" of the Paris Olympics.

Hot Sleeping Italian Swimmer

Thomas Ceccon is hot in more ways than one. Firstly, Ceccon is very good looking with a killer set of abs. Secondly, he sounded a little like Goldilocks: the Olympic Village was too hot (to his credit, there was no air conditioning) and the beds were too hard (they had a cardboard-based and were allegedly sex-proof).

This all lead to him taking an afternoon nap on the grass next to a park bench in the Olympic village. Another athlete snapped a photo of him and the rest is history.

Ceccon still managed to grab gold in the men's 100m backstroke and a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Love stories

Paris lived up to its name as the city of love. There was the tennis doubles team who were a real life couple before they broke up to focus on their sport. Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac went on to win gold together, potentially rekindling their romance.

Alice Finot missed out on a medal in the 3000m steeplechase by one place, but straight after the race she dropped to one knee and proposed to her boyfriend, Spanish triathlete Bruno Marinez Bargiela.

Olympic long jump gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall and her husband, paralympian Hunter Woodhall, turned the world into a bowl of mush with a video that showed what it is to be a supportive partner. "You're the Olympic champion," Woodhall yelled, as Davis-Woodhall jumped into his arms trackside.

Queen Andrade

For the first half of Paris, it seemed like there was only one gymnast anyopne could talk about - Simone Biles, America's most decorated female gymnast who famously withdrew from the last Olympics in Tokyo. Brazil's Rebeca Andrade challenged Biles for gold in the all-around final, but came out with a silver.

When Andrade finally won gold in the floor, Biles, who won silver, and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles bowed to Andrade while she stood on the podium.