These Are the Breakout Stars of the Olympics

The Olympics are a great time to become completely obsessed with people you had never heard about before. Take, for example, Stephen Nedoroscik a.k.a. “Pommel Horse Guy.” I had no reason to know who he was before yesterday, and I now consider him an American hero. Here are the other people having their moment at the Paris Olympics.

Ilona Maher

Maher is the star of the U.S. women’s rugby team, due both to her skill on the pitch and her nearly 2 million followers on TikTok. Maher helped the U.S. take home its first medal in women’s rugby (bronze) while also single-handedly elevating the sport in the public consciousness. If you saw Jason Kelce at the women’s gymnastics team final, you might have clocked that he was wearing a shirt with Maher’s face all over it.

Kim Yeji

Look at how cool this woman is. Her stance, the glasses, that little elephant plushie hooked to her belt loop. I’d venture to say no one at the Olympics has looked cooler than South Korean shooter Kim Yeji. She took home the silver medal in the women’s 10m air pistol, just behind her teammate Oh Ye Jin. No matter, though, I’m sure Tom Cruise has already contacted her about starring in the next Mission: Impossible.

Stephen Nedoroscik

As I mentioned before, this is Pommel Horse Guy. Nedoroscik came to Paris for the sole purpose of nailing a pommel-horse routine for the U.S. men’s gymnastics team, and that’s exactly what he did. Thanks to him, the team took home bronze, their first medal since the 2008 games.

Jordan Chiles’s parents

They were so excited! Watching the women’s gymnastics team final was a showcase for Chiles’s parents, Timothy and Gina. Each time Jordan competed, they stood up and screamed — Timothy kept hitting his chest so hard he might have a bruise tomorrow. When it was announced that Team USA had won the gold medal, no one in the stadium looked happier than these two. Both Timothy and Gina are pastors, but if they are considering a career change I think they’d make a killing as a hype squad for hire.

Nada Hafez

This Egyptian fencer competed while also being seven months pregnant … and no one knew! “My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional,” Hafez wrote on Instagram. “The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life & sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it.” Some people are just more tough than the rest of us.

Laurie Hernandez

You might remember Hernandez from the 2016 Olympics, where she took home the silver medal for her work on the balance beam. Now, she’s on the announcing team at NBC, and she’s killing it. Not only does she actually know a lot of the gymnasts competing, but she’s intimately aware of what exactly they’re doing in each event. She explains what’s going on clearly, but doesn’t hide her emotional connection to the sport. She’s also 24 years old, which leads to her referencing things like the “And they were roommates …” Vine while on live television.

Thomas Ceccon

The Olympics are swarming with hotties, so an athlete has to be really hot in order to break through based on their looks. Thomas Ceccon is really hot. The Italian swimmer took home a gold medal in the 100m backstroke and helped his team win a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay, but that is not why he’s getting attention. He’s getting attention because he looks like this:

This is really what the Olympics are all about.

Giorgia Villa

The Italian gymnast won a silver medal alongside her team, but that’s not the reason she’s popping. Someone unearthed her old sponsorship deal, and it’s perfect:

It seems that Villa has not posted parmigiano reggiano content since 2022, but the photos are still spectacular.

This caption reads, “Commitment, perseverance, passion!” Next time you’re at an Italian restaurant, keep that motto in mind when you’re feeling embarrassed by how much parm you want them to grate onto your pasta.

Peacock

Streaming services on the whole are kind of flopping, but I haven’t been this excited to be a Peacock subscriber since Scandoval. Congrats to NBCUniversal!

This post has been updated.