Borkowski Media Trends: Olympics Special
Flavor Flav thinks Polo's Mint | Gymnast's Cheesy Sponsorship Shoot | Sharp Shooters & MORE
Olympics Special: Who are the Gold Medallists in the Paris Fame Game?
Flav brings the hope of it all to Team USA’s August
For the uninitiated, seeing the former hype man of Public Enemy and 80s icon tweeting lyrics from a Taylor Swift song in support of Team USA might have seemed a little strange.
But while much of the attention of the last week has been, rightly, focused on the athletes themselves, there has been one man behind the scenes making it happen for some of Team USA’s less high-profile stars – Flavor Flav. To call Flav’s life tumultuous would be an understatement, but in recent years, he’s focused on being a self-proclaimed “girl dad”, and becoming, in particular, a vocal fan of Swift.
Back in May, after spotting a post on Instagram from water polo team captain Maggie Steffen about the funding issues they were facing in their quest to reach the games, Flav reached out. On July 1st, a five-year sponsorship deal was announced, with Flav making appearances at events and leading the sport’s press outreach, alongside making an undisclosed donation. Since arriving at the Games, Flav has generated unprecedented attention for the sport, more than upholding his side of the bargain, whilst also reaching out to other USA athletes in need – he recently made a donation to discus thrower Veronica Fraley after she tweeted about struggling to pay her rent.
Although Flav has been making a quiet comeback for months now, endearing himself to the all-important demographic of the Swifties, this has been a masterclass in how to reintroduce yourself to the public whilst also managing to do some genuinely good work, changing the fortunes of the athletes he’s supported. Just his presence has meant that, not only have the US water polo team received unprecedented levels of press coverage for a relatively niche sport, but also a significantly increased standing in the public consciousness and a tidal wave of goodwill in the favour. People want to see them win not just for the US, but for the feel-good factor of Flavor Flav’s comeback too. It’s a win-win for the ultimate hype man.
A grate deal for Parmagiano
Wine and cheese, an iconic pairing as old as time. Cheese and sport, possibly less so. Giorgia Villa, Italian Olympic athlete, just helped her team secure Italy’s first medal in artistic gymnastics in nearly a century; but it is not this athletic feat which has earned her a place in the internet meme hall of fame. The internet has been fangirling over the Italian gymnast’s rather unique sponsorship deal. Villa is sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano.
Giorgia Villa began working with Parmagiano Reggiano (the official consortium of authentic parmesan cheese producers) in 2021, and following her silver medal at the Paris games, a series of images of her posing with, performing gymnastics on, and embracing wheels of cheese have made the cheese into an internet sensation. Not usually considered cool or healthy, Parmagiano’s partnership with this sporting success has been a cute and sincere way for the brand to reach a wider audience.
The wholesome nature of the cheesy photoshoot, complete with the added comedic value of seeing someone do an aerial flip over a wheel of cheese, adds an element of much sought after authenticity and sweetness in an age where consumers are sick of brand partnerships polluting their social media feed pushing products. Not just a profile-raising endeavour, Parmagiano has said that parmesan is ‘suitable for a sports diet’ and similarities have been drawn between the ‘authenticity, quality, and energetic value’ of the cheese and the world of sport. It’s a wheely good partnership for the cheese consortium.
Surf’s Up
Jerome Brouillet’s incredible image of Brazilian champion surfer Gabriel Medina celebrating his emergence from a tricky ‘tube’ instantly became one of the games’, perhaps all of sports, iconic images.
The image captures Medina raising a nonchalant finger suspended in an apparent state of preternatural levitation, or perhaps surfing a bank of cloud having conquered the waves. Either way it was a near-perfect illustration of the superhuman prowess of Olympic athletes.
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Video of the moment both proved the photo’s veracity and demonstrated the split-second skill of photographer Brouillet, who has rightly taken his fair share of acclaim for the image.
Sharp Shooters
The Olympics has its own Barbenheimer moment in the shooting. South Korean champion Yeji Kim swaggered to a world record while becoming a style icon for her futuristic ‘Ghost in a Shell’ chic and winning legions more fans (and spawning yet more memes) with her apparent hipster nonchalance.
A perfectly contrasting icon came in the form of Turkish ex-policeman Yusuf Dikeç who won a silver medal with no specialist equipment and the most casual of demeanours witnessed in elite sport. His explanation that he needed no specialist equipment as a “natural shooter” sent the mock rumour that he is a trained assassin using the Olympics as a side-hustle into overdrive.
Pommel Horse Clark Kent
Channelling his own mix of the secret agent-superhero vibe was Stephen Nedoroscik, the USA gymnast who sat perfectly still throughout the whole team competition before delivering a clutch, medal-winning performance as a pommel horse specialist.
His sudden switch from unremarkable bespectacled observer to leading man had people making Clark Kent-Superman comparisons and his viral moment went on a little longer when he showed off his Rubik’s Cube skills after the event:
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Ilona Maher: Rugby’s Major New Player
The world’s greatest male rugby player (perhaps of all time) Antoine Dupont was the story of the men’s Olympic sevens tournament, with his Gold Medal-winning heroics briefly seeing him also become the most-followed rugby player on Instagram.
However the social media element of his glory was short-lived as team USA’s bronze-medal-winning star Ilona Maher emerged as the sport’s new icon.
Although a sporting powerhouse, the USA is not a major rugby nation, and Maher’s all-action on-field performance helped them to an unlikely spot on the podium. Paired with a charismatic social media presence, including a classy rebuttal of nasty social media comments about her appearance, Maher’s star power saw her pass 2.5 million Instagram followers to become perhaps the most recognisable rugby player on the planet.