In Tokyo, social platforms help the Pandemic Olympics shine

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TOKYO – A condom fixed Jessica Fox's canoe, and skateboarder Jagger Eaton celebrated his bronze medal by broadcasting unrecorded connected Instagram. Margielyn Didal “let” Tony Hawk instrumentality a representation with her to station connected Facebook.

The stableness of the cardboard framed beds successful the athlete's colony has been tested by Olympians who treated them arsenic trampolines connected astir each societal media platform, and a Greek h2o polo subordinate created a dating app — which mightiness person travel successful useful for American rugby subordinate Ilona Maher, who rolled with the schtick of the “Thirsty Olympian."

The made-to-watch Tokyo Games, wherever pandemic precautions forestall permitting spectators, person go a integer matter much than ever. From societal media to streaming, athletes and their events are reaching the nationalist successful record-smashing and trailblazing ways.

More than 100 cardinal unsocial users had visited Olympic integer platforms oregon utilized the Tokyo 2020 app done the archetypal week of the games. U.S. rightsholder NBC has notched 2.5 cardinal streaming minutes of Olympics contented crossed each its integer platforms, the web said, a 77% summation from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. The archetypal week successful Tokyo was the highest-ever play usage for streaming level Peacock.

But it's the societal media platforms that are causing the breakout buzz. Social posts by Olympics accounts connected TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Weibo generated 3.7 cardinal engagements. The Olympics' societal media accounts person a combined full of 75 cardinal followers.

Then determination is the TikTok phenomenon. Launched successful 2017, the short-form, video-sharing app has been 1 of the preferred societal media platforms of these games. Athletes you'd ne'er heard astir earlier Tokyo — peculiarly those from niche sports — person utilized TikTok to seizure moments that person not lone gone viral but became the avenue to present themselves to the world.

Karate, skateboarding, athletics climbing and surfing — each sports that resonate with a younger demographic — surely helped thrust postulation to TikTok. The podium winners successful women's thoroughfare skateboarding were 13, 13 and 16 years old, and metallic medalist Rayssa Leal of Brazil has 3.4 million followers connected TikTok, fractional of her 6.5 cardinal followers connected Instagram.

Even the authoritative Olympics leafage has soared with much than 3 cardinal views of videos related to its #OlympicSpirit challenge.

“TikTok, arsenic my lad told maine recently, is the integer spot of prime of younger audiences,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams says. "The Games has to spell to wherever the radical are.”

WHO STOOD OUT

The satellite was acquainted with gymnast SIMONE BILES earlier her 2nd Olympics, and teammate SUNISA LEE was rather popular, too. After Lee won the women's all-around, she surpassed 1 cardinal followers connected her Instagram account. When she settled for bronze connected uneven bars, t he 18-year-old admitted her accrued fame had been a distraction.

But ILONA MAHER? Few knew of the 24-year-old rugby subordinate from Vermont who mightiness precise good beryllium TikTok's breakout prima of the Olympics. Posting portion wearing a red, achromatic and bluish bucket hat, the self-deprecating 5-foot-10, 200-pound nursing schoolhouse postgraduate work an nonfiction that called her "the thirsty Olympian" and ran with it.

Maher uses a #beastbeautybrains run and hopes her videos dispersed assemblage representation positivity, bring much attraction to the athletics of rugby, and, astir importantly, onshore her immoderate endorsement deals.

“As a pistillate jock successful an emerging sport, I don't marque a batch of money, truthful I bash anticipation it opens the doors for marque deals," Maher says. As for the connection she's trying to nonstop young girls: "It's OK to instrumentality up space. You tin beryllium truthful galore things, a beast connected the rugby field, a quality whenever, and person arsenic overmuch brains arsenic the smartest idiosyncratic retired there."

JAGGER EATON arrived successful Tokyo with a pursuing successful the skateboarding assemblage that began successful 2012 erstwhile helium acceptable a grounds arsenic the youngest X Games rival astatine property 11. But it wasn't until his athletics was added to the Olympics that the remainder of America became acquainted with the 20-year-old Arizonan who won bronze with AirPods successful his ears and his iPhone successful his pocket.

When helium messed up a instrumentality and past was shown searching for his fallen AirPod, Eaton went viral.

“I americium truthful stoked that skateboarding got that galore eyes connected it. I deliberation it truly pushes the athletics guardant and legitimizes skateboarding,” says Eaton, who says helium has “no idea” wherefore America fell successful emotion with him. His societal media presence is deliberate, with a defined aesthetic helium hopes legitimizes skateboarding.

“I consciousness similar radical truly spot however overmuch I emotion skateboarding and however overmuch I privation to springiness backmost to the skate community, arsenic good arsenic the younger procreation that has fixed maine truthful overmuch motivation,” Eaton says.

Australian canoeist JESSICA FOX recovered her fame not by winning golden successful canoe slalom oregon bronze successful kayak slalom, but erstwhile she posted a TikTok video of idiosyncratic utilizing a condom to repair the nose of her boat.

Filipino skateboarder MARGIELYN DIDAL posted a representation alongside Tony Hawk, considered the top skateboarder of all-time, that jumped successful connected Hawk's moving gag that he's often misidentified successful public. When her station was misinterpreted arsenic Didal didn't admit Hawk, the GOAT had to explain.

ERIK SHOJI, an American volleyball player, gained attraction with TikTok nutrient reviews and tours from the athlete's village, on with behind-the-scenes looks astatine the athlete's experience. He didn't instrumentality societal media earnestly until helium started a YouTube transmission past twelvemonth portion battling COVID.

Shoji amped up his beingness arsenic some a mode to sphere his memories and spotlight the U.S. men's volleyball squad disconnected the court.

“People spot america playing but don’t truly cognize america disconnected of the court,” the Hawaiian says. "I anticipation that by showing myself and my teammates connected TikTok that viewers were capable to get to cognize america successful a antithetic airy and autumn successful emotion with our team.”

Halfway astir the satellite successful Slovakia, 18-year-old synchronized swimmer SILVIA SOLYMOSYOVA gained traction adjacent though she's not yet an Olympian. Solymosyova h as studied TikTok trends to summation 1.2 cardinal followers portion reaching the U.S. assemblage with her underwater videos.

“Lots of Slovaks deliberation that everything from overseas is better. My portion is excessively tiny and my niche is excessively specific. That's wherefore I was trying to prosecute mostly with U.S. TikTokers and people the English speaking audience,” she said. “Because I'm GenZ who is mounting trends connected TikTok, I've learned indispensable skills, and I’m a small ahead.”

Then there's MARIOS KAPOTSIS, who is trying to pb Greece to its first-ever Olympic medal successful men's h2o polo. The 29-year-old developed a dating app called “Vespr” that lone functions astatine night.

“So the app starts erstwhile the prima goes down, it’s open, and erstwhile the prima goes up, it’s closed,” Kapotsis says. "So it’s lone during the night. Whatever you bash during the night, the adjacent night, everything is finished. So each nighttime is thing new.”

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AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen and AP newsman Syd Fryer contributed to this report. More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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