Yeah, sure, all we’re watching the Olympics for is the sport. Nothing else.
But let’s be honest, it’s also about the drama, the excitement and the reactions from the crowd. And it seems one man in particular has got people gripped with what he’s getting up to in Paris.
An athlete in his own game, Snoop Dogg is at this year’s Olympics to do coverage with NBC and to, well, live his best life.
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After carrying the torch during the final stages of the relay on Friday (26 July), he’s been enjoying taking in the sports.
So of course, that included watching Team USA at the Women’s Qualification for the Artistic Gymnastics this morning (28 July) where he was spotted doing something he ‘never does’.
The ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ rapper joined the likes of Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande to watch Simone Biles’ big return to the Olympics after her well-known case of the ‘twisties’ which saw her withdraw from the games in Tokyo in 2021.
With her new documentary currently trending on Netflix, Biles was back in her true GOAT form, scoring a total of a whopping 59.566 as BBC commentator Matt Baker said she is ‘the ultimate athlete here’ at the Olympics.
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And just like the packed out arena in Paris, Snoop was certainly impressed by the gymnast’s events.
“You know what I noticed from over here, Snoop Dogg never takes his sunglasses off, but he did to watch Biles’ floor,” said one of the BBC commentators. “Took his glasses off - that’s how impressive it was.”
Another commentator added that throughout the 27-year-old’s floor event, the rapper was ‘clapping and dancing’ along.
Biles opened her floor routine with one of the moves named after her, the Biles II (a triple-twisting double somersault).
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The D-O-double G was sat in the first row as he cheered on the gymnast and even sported a special T-shirt to further show his support.
Sharing snaps of Snoop raising his glasses to take in Biles’ routine on X, one user wrote: “When the games are done and over, we need a @SnoopDogg and @Simone_Biles collab on SOMETHING…ANYTHING really and I’d buy it…”
Another added: “I LOVE Olympic games summers. Watching Simone Biles with Snoop Dogg rooting for her on the public, come on.”
While a third agreed: “Snoop Dogg watching Simone Biles compete in gymnastics is the Sunday television I’m here for.”
The most bizarre, discontinued Olympic sports
Painting
Back in the day, the Olympics dished out medals for art too, with events including painting and sculpture, as well as music, architecture and even literature.
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Making its debut all the way back at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm and continuing until the 1948 London games, juries awarded competitors a total of 151 medals for artistic projects inspired by sport.
Tug of War
Bet you didn't think this playground classic was once part of the Olympics, did you?
Well, it turns out not only was the sport popular, but it stirred up a lot of drama too - with accusations of foul play flying around at the 1908 Olympics in London, with Team USA accusing Team GB of cheating due to their 'illegal' heavy footwear.
A mainstay for around five Olympic games from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War enthusiasts have even campaigned for organisers to reintroduce the retired sport back into the Games.
Hot Air Balloon Racing
Launching at the 1900 Olympics, hot air balloon drivers would compete in races scoring how far they could travel, altitude reached, ability to land within the correct coordinates and - to top it all off - who got the best photo from the balloon.
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The sport ended up being canned after a ban on motorised sports was brought in.
Live Pigeon Shooting
Also making its debut at the 1900 Olympics, the event was pretty self explanatory - a load of pigeons were released into the air as the competitor tried to shoot as many as possible. Grim.
The event only appeared at the Games once, and all in all, it's estimated that Olympic hopefuls killed around 300 pigeons.
Pistol Duelling
It doesn't take much guessing as to why this event was scrapped, but back in 1906, people clearly didn't bat an eyelid at competitors waving pistols around and shooting at each other.
It began with competitors shooting at dummies, but two years later organisers decided to shake things up and have them shoot at each other with wax bullets. Ouch.
1908 would be the last time the sport was included in the Olympics, so I'm guessing they quickly realised it was a bad idea - wax bullets or not.
Topics: Olympics, Simone Biles, Snoop Dogg, Celebrity, Sport
Jess Battison