From the one-man-with-one-job sniper to the rugby player who turned the Olympic Village into “Love Island,” many Olympians have achieved hero status both at the Paris Games and online. They’ve not only become champions in their sports, they’ve also become the subjects of viral videos and memes.

Here are the breakout stars that the internet admires: Paris Olympics.

Steven Nedoroscik, “Pommel Horse Man”

Steven Neodoroscik, 25, is an expert Team USA men’s gymnastics, meaning he was brought onto the team specialization in an activity: pommel horseHe won hearts by accomplishing a difficult task, waited for hours until the event time came, and gave a 45-second performance that became critical for the team.

If Neodoroscik could do well on the pommel horse in the team all-around event, the U.S. would have a shot at a medal. He had a handful of errors in the other events, so he needed to score high enough to bring them back.

Neodoroscik, who some online described as a “sleeper agent” and was seen staring at the sidelines as he awaited the outcome of the match, took off his glasses and jumped on his horse, like Clark Kent transforming into Superman.

He has said in several interviews that he can’t see without his glasses but if he wears them at the event he will fly away. So he does it with blurry vision, saying he doesn’t need the sense of sight, he just needs to feel.

His performance ignited his teammates, fans at the Olympics and those watching at home. He proudly jumped off the pommel horse, celebrated with the team and looked up to see that he had scored 14.866 – enough to earn the team the Bronze medal in the all-around event.

The Worcester, Massachusetts, nativeA Penn State graduate with a degree in electrical engineering and a talent for solving Rubik’s cubes, he was affectionately called a nerd by some. Perhaps it was his humble personality — he admitted to getting into the sport late and not being recruited by the NCAA — and his oft-mentioned love for his girlfriend that captured hearts.

And to many, he’s a hero. Team USA’s men’s gymnastics team hadn’t won an Olympic medal in 16 years, and the pommel horse was their Achilles’ heel. Neodoroscik got the job done, and he’s been known as Spider-Man, Clark Kent, and Team USA’s secret weapon ever since.

Neodoroscik, who won two national titles before his Olympic debut, isn’t done yet. He will be the last to compete in the individual pommel horse event on Saturday, this time for the team.

Body positive social media star Ilona Maher

Twenty-seven-year-old Ilona Maher helped the U.S. women’s rugby team win its first Olympic medal in Paris — but she’s more than just an athlete. Maher has become an online role model, using social media to shatter body-shaming and stereotypes.

Maher, who is 5’11” tall and weighs 200 pounds, went on record on social media when she received a comment about her body mass index, explaining that her body type doesn’t bother her and that she has about 150 pounds of lean muscle mass, making her a fit athlete.

HE He told CBS News’ Jamie Yuccas haters are her motivation. “I think there’s always been a divide. People believe that when you play sports, if you’re an athlete, you can’t be feminine,” says the Burlington, Vermont native. “I feel like I can be a beast and do this very physical, aggressive sport while still maintaining my femininity.”

While others may call her masculine, she says she has always felt feminine. “For me, it’s really important to do something that shows what my body can do, and so I want other women to (just) go to the gym and lift weights, see what their body can do, get to the point where they can do pull-ups. Oh my God, I’m so strong. I can do this. I think it’s given me a new perspective on my body,” she said.

The two-time Olympic champion also gave her millions of social media followers behind-the-scenes coverage of the Olympics, trading Olympic badges with stars like Simone Biles, meeting former NFL player Jason Kelce and attempting to break the infamous cardboard beds in the Olympic Village.

He has injected self-deprecating humour into his videos about finding love at the Olympics, dubbing the athletes’ village “Olympic Villa” – a reference to the reality dating show Love Island, where singles try to find a match in a villa.

After helping his team win the bronze medal, he celebrated by parading on the podium at Champions Park, where the athletes went to receive their well-deserved awards.

Kim Yeji is the “coolest” athlete of the Olympics

Kim Yeji, a sniper from the Republic of Korea, went viral with her performance in a pistol shooting event because she made the event look so cool.

To heighten her sensitivity, Kim wore custom-made glasses, a baseball cap and a black outfit that many online said made her look “tough.”

She has been described on social media as the “coolest” athlete at the Olympics – but a softer accessory has also attracted widespread attention. Kim carried her daughter’s stuffed elephant toy during her event, clutching it to her hip as if it were another gun in her holster.

Videos of his bone-chilling bad shooting performance — carelessly firing his gun, removing the bullet, and staring at the camera — went viral. As many online put it, he gave “the main character energy.”

The stern-faced Kim won silver in the 10m air pistol event, while teammate Oh Ye Jin won gold. The 31-year-old also broke the world record in the women’s 25m pistol final at this year’s rifle World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Gymnast Giorgia Villa sponsored by cheese

Many athletes receive brand sponsorships, usually with sportswear brands or sports drinks. But Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa has the most iconic Italian sponsorship ever – Parmesan cheese.

Villa, 21, from Ponte San Pietro, helped her team win silver in the team all-around event. But it’s old photos from a 2021 ad campaign with Parmigiano Reggiano that really make her stand out. In the ad, Villa is wearing her swimsuit and holding a giant wheel of cheese on a gymnastics mat. In another shot, she’s doing a split on four wheels of cheese.

Villa referred to cheese as his “best friend” in a social media post. The footage went viral this week, with many saying they wanted to become athletes just to find a sponsor.

Adidas teamed up with Villa in an Instagram post, saying she had made history. But commenters were hoping to see another brand post on her social media feed — cheese. “Girl, I’m here for the cheese please?” one person commented.

“I came here because they told me you took pictures with giant cheese wheels. I left disappointed,” wrote another.

“Where’s the cheese, lady?” asked another.

Villa and The team made history Italy won the silver medal for the first time in this event since 1928, while Brazil won the bronze medal, their first team medal in this event.

Leon Marchand, the future Phelps

French swimmer Leon Marchand is being compared to Olympic legend Michael Phelps, and Phelps is seeing just how great he is.

“For me, nobody believed that I could accomplish the things that I was trying to do, right? But I did it, deep down, and the same goes for (Marchand),” Phelps told sports analyst Pat McAfee. “A lot of people said my records would never be broken and would remain untouched, but clearly that’s not the case.”

At the Paris Games, Marchand broke Phelps’ record in the 400-meter individual medley.

Marchand said swimming the race in 4:02.50 was “crazy” and one of the most painful things he’s ever done. “It was amazing to do it here and the time was crazy,” he said.

Phelps told McAfee that he loves seeing a young man have a dream and work to achieve it. “He and I have a lot of similarities,” he said.

In Paris, Marchand also broke Hungarian swimmer Kristóf Milák’s record in the 200-meter freestyle. Phelps also acknowledged how difficult Marchand’s race day was.

After beating Milak, he had to continue swimming the 200-meter breaststroke. “That’s probably the greatest double I’ve ever seen in the history of sports,” Phelps said when commenting on the race. “To be able to do 1:52 and 2:05, we know the kid can obviously swim, and if we didn’t know already, he’s going to be here for a long time. He’s going to make a lot of noise.”

If you need further convincing, Marchand won gold medals in all three of the Olympic events mentioned above.

Another connection to Phelps: Marchand trained with the same coach, Bob Bowman, who coached Phelps as a kid and at the University of Michigan. Marchand was so eager to follow in Phelps’ footsteps that he emailed Bowman asking to swim on his team at Arizona State University, he told NBC. The email worked, and he joined the team in 2020.

Born in Toulouse, the athlete is the son of two swimmers, Olympic champion Xavier Marchand and French record holder Céline Bonnet.

Apologizing husband Gianmarco Tamberi

Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi made headlines even before the competition began when he apologised to his wife after last week’s opening ceremonies for losing his wedding ring in the Seine River as athletes entered the event by boat.

While standing in front of the Italian team’s boat waving his country’s flag, Tamberi unknowingly lost his wedding ring in the river below.

After realising he had lost his ring, he wrote on social media to his wife Chiara: “I’m sorry my love, I’m so sorry”, according to BBC News. He said the reason for the ring’s disappearance was that he had lost a lot of weight and was showing “irresistible enthusiasm”.

“If this were to happen, if I had to lose this ring, I couldn’t imagine a better place,” he wrote. His ring, he said, “will remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love,” and he told his wife that they could throw his ring in the river so they could be there together. His romantic note to his wife captivated people around the world, and she found it sweet.

“Only you can turn this into something romantic,” he commented on his apology post.

Tamberi’s high jump events do not start until August 7. In an Instagram post, she said she hopes to return home with a bigger gold than the one she lost.