Meet This Year’s Team of TikTok Olympians
What goes down at the Olympic Village — or “villa,” as some of this year’s athletes are calling it — has been the subject of gossip and lore since the games of ancient Greece. But starting with the 2020 Olympics (which happened in 2021, for obvious reasons), everyone from sports enthusiasts to those just enthusiastic about winning could get front-row seats to the action thanks to TikTok.
Not unlike prom season or ’Bama rush, the Olympics have their own side of TikTok. Whether younger or older, brand-new or seasoned, almost all the athletes this year are extremely online and are giving us a practically 360-degree view of not just the games but all the gossip behind the scenes — from the cardboard beds to the air-conditioning drama. However, as in the Games themselves, certain players get the most glory. To help narrow down your feed, we’ve assembled a list of the must-follow competitors already established in both the Olympics and influencing as well as the rising stars whose digital careers have only just begun.
Ilona Maher
Team: USA
Sport: Rugby
Age: 27
The whole concept of vlogging the Olympics was practically pioneered by Maher back in 2021 when she took viewers with her to Tokyo and became a viral sensation. She’s once again returning to the Village, now with three years of experience balancing her life as both an influencer and an athlete — which includes using her platform to call out trolls. She recently made headlines for responding to an Instagram commenter who tried to shame her for her BMI: “I’m going to the Olympics, and you’re not,” she said in a Reel.
Daniella Ramirez
Team: USA
Sport: Artistic Swimming
Age: 22
Ramirez may be a third-generation synchronized swimmer, behind her grandmother, mother, and sister, but I’ll go out on a limb and say she’s the first of them to earn 130 million views for doing ASMR. Come for the satisfying videos of her peeling off the Knox gelatin that protects her hair, stay for the underwater-makeup recs.
Mackenzie Arnold
Team: Australia
Sport: Soccer
Age: 30
While teammate Alanna Kennedy has an equally good TikTok presence, Arnold wins this round after posting a viral video of the pair trying on their Olympic gear. For some reason, the Australian women’s soccer team is sporting dresses in 2024, and while it’s -2 for the use of the Cody Ko audio, it’s +1,000 for the dancing.
Tara Davis-Woodhall (and Hunter Woodhall)
Team: USA
Sport: Track and field
Age: 25
Meet this year’s Olympics power couple: Davis-Woodhall and their husband Hunter Woodhall share over 700,000 subscribers on YouTube in addition to the combined near million Davis-Woodhall has on her own Instagram and TikTok. Thankfully, they’re both headed to Paris this summer — Davis-Woodhall in track and field, Hunter on the Paralympic track-and-field team.
Trinity Rodman
Team: USA
Sport: Soccer
Age: 22
Rodman’s (mysteriously now-deleted but preserved above) TikTok featuring the USA women’s soccer team participating in the “boots and a slicked-back bun” trend was the video that essentially kicked off this year’s Olympics content, making the Twitter rounds on July 10. In the meantime, Rodman can be seen goofing off with teammates like Alyssa Thompson on TikTok.
Tilly Kearns
Team: Australia
Sport: Water polo
Age: 23
While most Olympian TikTokkers are vlogging, Kearns is dedicated to the real issue: the cardboard beds. The less-than-glamorous reality of the Olympic Village sleeping conditions was unearthed back in 2021, but Kearns has all but made it her platform — the before, during, and after. “It’s actually rock-solid,” she remarked after her first night.
Suni Lee
Team: USA
Sport: Gymnastics
Age: 21
With over 1.6 million TikTok followers and another 1.6 million on Instagram, Lee is perhaps the most decorated of this year’s athletes — at least in the number of followers. When one asked the gymnast if they could expect vlogs from Paris this season, her answer was clear: “duhhh!!!”
Hezly Rivera
Team: USA
Sport: Gymnastics
Age: 16
Of the women’s gymnastics team, may I also humbly recommend Rivera’s account? Since she’s officially the youngest member of Team USA, her TikTok may be “parent managed,” according to her bio, but someone’s gotta hold the camera while she’s dancing and doing GRWMs over on Insta.
Henrik Christiansen
Team: Norway
Sport: Swimming
Age: 27
Christiansen already won the medal for the most unhinged online presence of the Olympians, considering around 900,000 viewers were introduced to him via the above video in which he wears his girlfriend’s thong. He has also re-created the Four Seasons Orlando video and frequently gets compared to Mark Zuckerberg. Now, he has the potential to do the funniest thing of all time, which is enter the Olympics pool like this.
Nyara Sabally
Team: Germany
Sport: Basketball
Age: 24
Sabally is the Olympian with perhaps the most underrated TikTok presence, considering this video of her showing off her Olympic-rings grill has only 16,000 views when it clearly should be the thing everyone’s talking about. A player for the New York Liberty, she and her sister, Satou, are repping their home country together in Paris.
Lauren Ryan
Team: Australia
Sport: Track and field
Age: 26
The mark of any good Olympian is doing well under pressure, so when Ryan, already en route to Paris, learned the luggage for her July brand partnership had arrived at her home, she had to improvise. She put her boyfriend on FaceTime and had him conduct the unboxing. 10/10, gold-medal-worthy.
Keet Oldenbeuving
Team: Netherlands
Sport: Skateboarding
Age: 19
TIL skateboarding is an Olympic sport, and it makes sense it’s being represented by cool teens like Oldenbeuving. While her Instagram will keep you abreast of her official updates, TikTok is where she’s unpacking her gear and showing off her pin collection. And if you want to know what she’s listening to while competing, she made a Spotify playlist for that, too.
Erik Shoji
Team: USA
Sport: Volleyball
Age: 34
Shoji’s not a track-and-field athlete, but he’s already outpacing the teens. He posted a vlog from his flight to Paris, an embarrassing video of sleeping teammate David Smith, and a “What’s in my bag?” Don’t wear yourself out, Shoji — you still have the entire Olympics ahead of you.
Keturah Orji
Team: USA
Sport: Track and field
Age: 28
Three-time Olympian Orji is no stranger to the Village, but this is her first Games bringing TikTok along. And just in time, too, because earlier this month, the athlete announced that this will be her last Olympics. While she previously used her account to update followers on races and attempt couples’ challenges, now she’s going all in on unboxings, Q&As, and even ASMR.
Ryan Zeze
Team: France
Sport: Track and field
Age: 26
While travel vlogs are all well and good, sometimes you just need a local to show you around. Zeze routinely vlogs his days as an athlete in France, including his official qualification and all the prep. His videos are in French, but I’ll still watch two straight minutes of a muscular athlete even if I can’t understand him. For world unity’s sake, of course.