A cartwheeling athlete at the Paris Olympics is grabbing attention for a completely different type of wheel.
On July 30, Italy won the silver medal in the women’s gymnastics team event, the country’s first in 96 years. As Team Italy celebrates the history-making win, one of its members, Giorgia Villa, also won over the internet a day later for what people are calling a synergistic sponsorship.
“I need the people to know that olympic silver medalist giorgia villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and regularly posts pics of herself with giant wheels of cheese,” wrote X user @slothanova on July 31 in a post that’s been viewed over 16 million times.
Villa can be seen in two images: In the first, she sits on a balance beam, smiling at the camera, while holding a large block of Parmigiano-Reggiano; in the second, Villa is holding an entire wheel of the Italian cheese while seated on the floor. In both, she is beaming at the camera, as we all would if we had that much raw power in our grasp.
On Villa’s Instagram, one can find many images of her posing with the hard cheese, though her last post leaping over a block of glorious Parmigiano Reggiano was in January 2022.
In response, people are cheesing hard online.
“literally only her can serve this hard with a giant wheel of parmesan cheese and I respect her for that,” wrote one X user.
“Witnessing somebody else live your dreams is not fun whatsoever,” postede another, while someone a bit more supportive wrote, “Get that cheese girl.”
“big parma is at it again!” joked yet another.
“I find this grating,” ribbed one X user, to whom another countered, “Is she single?”
Even Merriam-Webster added its two cents, posting the definition for “hero.”
A representative for Villa tells TODAY.com she is unable to comment due to the IOC’s Rule 40, which prevents athletes who are competing in the Olympics from allowing their name, image or likeness to be used in advertising during the Games.
The rep did confirm, however, that at the moment, the partnership between Villa and Parmigiano Reggiano is no longer active.
Meanwhile, a Parmigiano Reggiano spokesperson says they’re proud of Villa and the entire Italian team.
“The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium is always thrilled when the Italian team members, especially when so young, achieve such extraordinary results, and has always been sensitive to the world of sports,” they tell TODAY.com. “Parmigiano Reggiano is in fact an essential food in everyone’s diet and, in particular, that of athletes, who find in it a totally natural energy boost.”
It remains to be seen whether Parmigiano Reggiano or the famous chocolate muffin will take home the gold as the most iconic food of the Paris Olympics.
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