Paris Olympics 2024: Why has Italian cheese gone viral at the Games?

Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa was in the news recently after she won her country's first-ever Olympic medal in gymnastics in 96 years. Giorgia Villa won silver at the Women's Team All-Around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Italy, who finished in second place behind gold medallists USA. However, winning a medal with Italy is not the only reason why Giorgia is making the headlines.

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The Italians are said to love their cheese and that's one of the reasons why the 21 year-old has gone viral on social media. Yes, you read that right! In April 2020, Villa announced a sponsorship deal with Parmigianno Reggiano, an Italian cheese company, and in 2021, photos of herself dressed in a leotard, posing with giant wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese went viral. And soon after Tuesday's gymnastics final, those photos went viral on social media once again.

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“Olympic silver medalist and Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and takes many of her photos while posing with large wheels of cheese,” read a post on "X", along with photos of Giorgia Villa. Ever since the deal with the cheese company became official, Villa has time and again shared pictures of herself crunching her cheese.

It has however not been confirmed of she is still associated with the brand. Having said that, she has not shared any promotional content in association with the company since 2022.

Other athletes, including tennis star Jannik Sinner, fencer Matteo Neri, basketball star Nico Mannion and paralympic swimmer Giula Ghiretti have also been sponsored by Parmigianno-Reggiano.