What is the Unusual Olympic Athlete Names meme?

It's a recurring internet joke where people share screenshots and lists of Olympic athletes whose names sound funny, rude, or like puns when read by English speakers[4].

Where did the Unusual Olympic Athlete Names meme come from?

While funny sports names had been shared on blogs earlier, the trend took off after NBC began streaming the Olympics online in 2008, letting viewers screencap chyrons[4][5].

What does the Unusual Olympic Athlete Names meme mean?

The humor is purely phonetic. Names that are normal in their home countries (like "Dong Dong" or "Kim Yoo Suk") happen to sound like English words or phrases, and the comedy comes from the contrast[1].

How do you use the Unusual Olympic Athlete Names meme?

Screencap or screenshot an athlete's official broadcast graphic showing their name, then share it on social media with minimal commentary. Lists ranking the funniest names from each Games are also common[2].

Is the Unusual Olympic Athlete Names meme still popular?

The trend peaked during the 2012 and 2014 Olympics and declined by 2016[4]. It still surfaces every Olympic cycle but with less viral energy than its early years.

Who are the most well-known athletes in this meme?

Dong Dong (Chinese trampoline), Kim Yoo Suk (South Korean pole vault), Destinee Hooker (US volleyball), Andreas Wank (German ski jump), and Semen Pavlichenko (Russian luge) are among the most frequently cited[1][2].

What was the "Cunty Spunkfuckshitpiss" hoax?

During the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Twitter user @JimboLoony Photoshopped Andreas Wank's NBC chyron to show a fake vulgar name. Many people believed it was real, prompting the Daily Dot to publish a debunking article[3].

Why did this meme blow up in 2012 specifically?

The 2012 London Olympics coincided with BuzzFeed's rise as a viral content platform. Their list of 28 funny names became one of BuzzFeed's most-read posts ever, and dozens of other sites published their own versions[1][4].

Did the athletes react to being part of this meme?

The available sources don't document athlete responses to the name lists, though the humor is directed at English phonetics rather than the athletes themselves.

Will this meme return for future Olympics?

The format is inherently tied to the Olympic cycle, so new names will always surface every two years. Whether the lists go viral again depends on whether a particularly standout name catches the internet's attention[4].

Unusual Olympic Athlete Names

2008Listicle / screencap humor / name-based comedysemi-active

Also known as: Funny Olympic Names · Best Olympic Names

Unusual Olympic Athlete Names is a 2008 screencap meme featuring Olympic chyrons where competitors' names sound like puns, profanity, or innuendo, hitting peak virality in 2012-2014 BuzzFeed listicles.

Unusual Olympic Athlete Names is a recurring internet joke built around Olympic competitors whose names, when read by English speakers, sound like puns, profanity, or innuendo. The trend picked up steam after NBC began streaming the Olympics online in 2008, making it easy for viewers to screencap athlete chyrons, and hit peak virality during the 2012 London and 2014 Sochi Games when BuzzFeed and other outlets published massive roundup lists of the funniest names.

olympics memes double entendre memes name based memes accidental fame memes early 2010s memes

Overview

Every two years, the Olympics bring together thousands of athletes from around the world, and inevitably some of their names land differently when read through an English-language lens. The humor is straightforward: a foreign name that's perfectly normal in its home country sounds like a dirty word, a silly phrase, or an unfortunate pun when announced by an English-speaking commentator or displayed on a TV chyron. Think "Dong Dong" (Chinese trampoline gymnast), "Kim Yoo Suk" (South Korean pole vaulter), or "Andreas Wank" (German ski jumper).

The format is simple. Someone screencaps the official NBC broadcast graphic showing the athlete's name, country, and event, then shares it with zero additional context needed. The name does all the work.

Funny athlete names existed long before the internet. Blogs covering sports humor occasionally included Olympians in their lists. One early example was the blog List of the Day, which published a piece called "The Ten Dirtiest Names in Sports" featuring Olympic basketball player Gregor Fucka and Olympic swimmer Misty Hyman4.

The real shift happened in 2008, when NBC began streaming Olympic coverage online for the first time5. This gave internet users the ability to pause, screencap, and share broadcast graphics showing athlete names. Before online streaming, you had to be watching live TV at the right moment. After 2008, anyone could grab screenshots and post them to blogs, forums, and early social media4.

Origin & Background

Platform

NBC Olympics online stream (source screenshots), blogs and BuzzFeed (viral spread)

Creator

Unknown

Date

2008

The real shift happened in 2008, when NBC began streaming Olympic coverage online for the first time. This gave internet users the ability to pause, screencap, and share broadcast graphics showing athlete names. Before online streaming, you had to be watching live TV at the right moment. After 2008, anyone could grab screenshots and post them to blogs, forums, and early social media.

How It Spread

The trend exploded during the 2012 London Olympics. Dozens of websites published roundup lists of the best names. BuzzFeed's "The 28 People With The Best Names In The 2012 London Olympics" became one of the site's most-read posts, featuring athletes like Kim Yoo Suk ("the worst part of being Yoo-Suk Kim is when people want to cheer for you"), Dong Dong, and Destinee Hooker. Funny or Die, TotalProSports, and TheBertShow all published their own versions.

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics brought a second wave. BuzzFeed published a follow-up list, "The 33 People With The Best Names In The 2014 Sochi Olympics," spotlighting German ski jumper Andreas Wank, Russian luge competitor Semen Pavlichenko, and athletes with names like "Christian Poser" and "Chinbat". Twitter user @JimboLoony took the joke a step further by digitally altering Wank's NBC chyron to read "Cunty Spunkfuckshitpiss". The Photoshop spread quickly, and enough people believed it was real that the Daily Dot published an article titled "No, this Olympian's name isn't actually a hilarious string of curses," gently reminding readers that Andreas Wank was funny enough on its own.

By the 2016 Rio Olympics, the trend had cooled off. Coverage was less widespread, with The Sun publishing the most notable list. One lasting callback was Dong Dong returning for another Games, spawning an image macro that used his name as the punchline of a *Law and Order* joke.

How to Use This Meme

The format is dead simple:

Wait for the Olympics (Summer or Winter).

Browse broadcast coverage or official athlete rosters for names that sound funny, rude, or punny in English.

Screencap the official TV graphic or roster entry showing the name.

Share it with minimal commentary. The name typically speaks for itself.

Cultural Impact

The trend reflected how internet culture and live sports broadcasting collided in the late 2000s and early 2010s. NBC's decision to stream the Olympics online opened the door for a new kind of real-time sports comedy that didn't require being a sports fan at all. You didn't need to know anything about pole vaulting to laugh at "Kim Yoo Suk."

BuzzFeed's 2012 list was reportedly among the most-read posts in the site's history at the time, showing how name-based humor could drive massive traffic during a major cultural event. The @JimboLoony Photoshop incident during the 2014 Games also highlighted how quickly fake screenshots could be taken at face value during a chaotic news cycle, with the Daily Dot noting it "probably says something about the zaniness of Sochi's 2014 Winter Games" that people accepted a name like "Cunty Spunkfuckshitpiss" without question.

Fun Facts

BuzzFeed's 2012 Olympic names list was described as one of the most-read posts in BuzzFeed history at that time.

The Daily Dot had to write an entire article debunking a Photoshopped Olympic athlete name in 2014.

Andreas Wank, Semen Pavlichenko, and an athlete whose last name was "Boner" were all competitors at the 2014 Sochi Games, leading BuzzFeed to joke they could "start a support group together".

NBC first streamed Olympic coverage online during the 2008 Beijing Games, which is what made the screencap-and-share format possible in the first place.

Derivatives & Variations

Andreas Wank "Cunty Spunkfuckshitpiss" edit:

Twitter user @JimboLoony Photoshopped the German ski jumper's NBC chyron during the 2014 Sochi Games, creating a fake name that went viral and fooled many viewers[3].

Dong Dong Law and Order meme:

The Chinese trampolinist's return for the 2016 Olympics spawned an image macro using the *Law and Order* format, with his name as the punchline[4].

"Dirtiest Names in Sports" blog lists:

Pre-dating the screencap era, blogs like List of the Day compiled athletes with suggestive names, mixing Olympians with players from American sports leagues[4].

Frequently Asked Questions

References (7)

1
No, this Olympian's name isn't actually a hilarious string of cursesarticle
2
The 28 People With The Best Names In The 2012 London Olympicsarticle
3
The 33 People With The Best Names In The 2014 Sochi Olympicsarticle
4
Unusual Olympic Athlete Names - Know Your Memeencyclopedia
5
2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremonyencyclopedia
6
Olympics on NBCencyclopedia
7
No, this Olympian's name isn't actually a hilarious string of cursesarticle