Medals first, then TikTok: How Team USA gymnasts celebrated their win
Simone Biles and Suni Lee left it all on the floor for their gold medal win at the Olympics. Then they had to decide what to post on social media.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team earned their spot at the top of the Olympic podium once again after a gold-medal-winning performance during the team final on July 30. As doting family members and celebrity fans like Serena Williams, Natalie Portman and Nicole Kidman looked on from the stands, Team USA gymnasts Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey basked in their glory.
They hugged and high-fived, but one celebratory moment of “girlhood” the gymnasts shared is going viral.
In the moments after the U.S. women’s gymnastics team learned they’d secured the gold, a mic on the broadcast picked up an exchange between Lee and Biles, during which they briefly discussed the TikToks they wanted to record with their gold medals.
“I wanna do the chomping with the gold medals,” Biles told Lee. “OK, and I wanna do the one that [says] ‘Imagine what we would do if we didn’t win,’” Lee replied.
girlhood is winning an olympic gold medal and then planning out tiktok ideas pic.twitter.com/mQO2thtzlh
— qnqlissq (@morgansblock) July 30, 2024
Lee and Biles’s exchange has been widely discussed and shared online, with sports enthusiasts and social media users alike celebrating how Lee and Biles are “just like us” and how the exchange is indicative of “real girl power.”
Hours after audiences caught wind of the gymnasts’ plans during the live broadcast, Lee and Biles followed up with the aforementioned TikToks for the world to see.
“Olympic Gold Medalists,” Lee’s caption read.
“Taste golden,” Biles captioned her TikTok.
The U.S. gymnasts’ excitement over filming TikToks with their medals seems entirely appropriate, given just how online this year’s crop of Olympic athletes have been.
Since kicking off the Summer Games on July 26, rising stars and well-seasoned Olympians have been documenting their lives leading up to and during the Games. Sharing several facets of their 2024 Paris Olympics experience, athletes are creating content about everything from country-specific clothing hauls and “get ready with me” videos to daily vlogs and team practices.
As for the U.S. gymnasts, there’s no better way to celebrate winning team gold than with a TikTok (or two).
