Top five viral videos of the Olympics
NEVER MIND Danny Boyle’s £27 million opening ceremony extravaganza. The London 2012 Olympics has been making a name for itself away from the stadiums and velodromes with a number of ‘viral’ videos.
In this day and age, one of the inevitable facts associated with a global event such as the Olympics is that the internet will have a field day, whether with doctored images or videos spotted by keen-eyed viewers. This year’s London games are no different, with a number of Olympics-related videos having already gone ‘viral.’ We’ve picked out five of the best videos from London so far...
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Hide AdChirpy Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen might have released her catchy single in September of last year, but it seems that no one told the US Swim Team. Consisting primarily of footage filmed at practice sessions and, by the looks of it, the journey from the United States to London, the video is primarily made up of the athletes ‘lip syncing’ to the lyrics of the song and performing exaggerated accompanying actions. Teenage swimmer Missy Franklin especially seems to relish her part in the spoof, mouthing along with great gusto. Entirely choreographed and set up by the team themselves, Katherine Hersey assumed the role of director, with Alyssa Anderson and Caitlin Leverenz also taking key roles in the production. At the time of writing, the video had racked up 4,460,773 views on YouTube and the number of views will no doubt continue to rise throughout the Olympics.
Not since 1996 had Team USA’s gymnasts won a team medal at an Olympics. All that changed as the ‘Fab Five’ - Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross and Gabrielle Douglas - produced a phenomenal display in the women’s team gymnastics competition on Tuesday of this week. Given Wieber’s narrow elimination in the individual all-round final on the Sunday, her mettle and determination to succeed may just have carried the team to victory over the Russians. However, if you missed the moment, don’t fret - for production company PDH have recreated the magic moment using Lego figures. Published only yesterday, the video has already been viewed over 31,000 times. We’re all for this type of thing, but we’d like to see them have a go at recreating Sir Chris Hoy’s record-breaking, gold-medal-winning performance last night...
Around 50 seconds into this clip, the ‘Happiest Olympics Worker’ (or Rachel Onasanwo to give her her Sunday name), sitting on an elevated chair in Stratford, deadpans: “I cannot contain my excitement, people...today is a special day...” Listening to her tone of voice, you wouldn’t think so, but the Westfield-based worker admits that the dry humour and deadpan comments are just her style. Apparently workers are instructed to say certain things, and all Rachel was doing was following orders. We particularly like the comments from passing people, ranging from those encouraging her to sing, and those who think she should be standing up. The video has clocked up over 1.4 million views, and is certainly worth a watch.
And now for something completely different. An inspired ad created by Nike focuses on the theme of greatness - ‘Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it’ - and makes use of London’s namesake cities across the world, including the London in the state of Ohio and the London in Norway. The idea behind the advert is, in our opinion, designed to point out that whilst the world’s best athletes are competing in London at this time, there are still hundreds of people in cities called London throughout the world, who are seeking the same prize as those at the London 2012 Olympics. Over 4 million viewers have watched the 63-second long inspirational call-to-arms to the world’s budding athletes.
A particularly heart-warming one to finish with, this, which has been viewed by around 73,000 at the time of writing. Little-known South African swimmer Chad Le Clos was competing in the 200m butterfly final - in the lane next to his hero, American swimmer Michael Phelps. Chasing yet another gold medal to add to his vast collection, Phelps looked as though he had all but won this race (and the American’s mother thought he had, only to be told by her two daughters that he hadn’t) until the 20-year-old Le Clos somehow managed to edge ahead of Phelps and Japanese swimmer Takeshi Matsuda to take the gold medal. The clenched fist and the celebratory roar showed how much it meant to Le Clos, but even better was the impromptu interview with his dad, Bert. Still clutching the South African flag, his voice cracking with emotion, Bert Le Clos yelled: “Unbelievable, unbelievable. I have never been so happy in my life. It’s something indescribable, indescribable.”
He then breaks off to proclaim his love for his ‘beautiful boy’ before twigging that the interview is going out live. We won’t spoil any more of it for you, but needless to say, this is funny and heartwarming all at once.