What’s the deal with the Olympic trend on TikTok? What Sunisa Lee posted and how to do it explained

• TikTok users have been joking about why they didn’t make the Olympics.
• Trends has even had athletes in Paris for the games join in.
• It has been hugely popular and has had millions of views.

The Olympics is the moment the best sports people on planet earth get to show off exactly what they can do. But over on TikTok, social media users are using it as an opportunity to poke fun at themselves. 

Athletes and sports enthusiasts from around the globe have been sharing funny mishaps and fails that have been captured on film. The clips are accompanied by the caption ‘sad to announce I didn’t make the Olympic team’. 

And it is not just everyday people taking part in the viral trend, Olympic champion Sunisa Lee even took a break from the games in Paris 2024 to join in. The team USA gymnast even managed to rack up more than 30 million views from her contribution. 

But what is the trend about, how can you take part - and what exactly did Sunisa Lee post? Here’s all you need to know: 

What is the Olympics trend on TikTok? 

With Olympic fever taking over the globe (or wait is that just a new Covid variant), TikTok users have also caught the bug. The games in Paris have dominated since the opening ceremony on Friday, 26 July. 

But on TikTok it has sparked a hugely popular trend, in which users share a tongue-in-cheek clip of a sporting fail and announce they didn’t make the Olympic team - many also use a remix of the US anthem called Star Spangled Banner (Boosted) to accompany the clip. It is a mix of ironic humour and You’ve Been Framed candid slapstick and it has proved a huge hit on the app. 

The trend has seen users score millions of views and has even got actual Olympic athletes to join in. Sunisa Lee, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, is perhaps the most high profile example so far. 

What did Sunisa Lee post on TikTok? 

The two-time Olympic champion shared a clip from the beam final at the Paris 2024 games in which she fell off and finished outside of the medals. She captioned the post 'unfortunately I made the Olympic team’ in a slight twist on the usual format. 

Lee also used the Star Spangled Banner (Bass Boosted) remix and it has proved a massive hit, scoring more than 30m in the two days since it was posted. But it is not even her most popular Olympic post on the social media app, her pinned post after the USA won Team Gold has over 46 million views. 

How to do the trend? 

Firstly you need a clip of you failing at an Olympic sport, such as gymnastics or swimming. Then you have to type out the caption ‘sad to announce unfortunately I didn’t make the Olympic team’ and finally find the track called Star Spangled Banner (Bass Boosted) to use as the soundtrack for your post. 

Might also be worth using the hashtag Olympics 2024 in your post caption, but many haven’t as well. Sunisa Lee simply had a crying emoji. 

Have you been badgered into trying any TikTok trends by your kids? Share your thoughts on the social media platform by emailing our tech specialist at [email protected].