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Michael Phelps' face, Usain Bolt's running smile: Best Olympic memes in years past

Asha C. Gilbert, USA TODAY
·5 min read

The Olympics are a source of competition, a time of an international festivity and most hilariously – memes.

Once memes became popular on social media, it wasn't long before those attending the Olympics went viral for making weird faces, looking bored or grabbing viewers' attention.

The 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil were notorious for memes that included 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps' face as he prepared for a race and Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt for smoking his competition in a race, that even landed him on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics beginning later this month, here's a look back at the best memes and viral moments to come out of the Olympics:

Pita Taufatofua, a flag bearer from the independent nation of Tonga, went viral during the opening of 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil for his glistening body. He showed up at the opening ceremony of the Toyko 2020 Olympics shirtless, too.

Chinese Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui's giant smile and personality made rounds on Twitter after she won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Shaunae Miller's dive for gold during the 400-meter race at the 2016 Olympics had some people up in the air after the move. It sparked a controversial debate about whether athletes can dive into first place. Official rules state: "The first athlete whose torso … reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner."

Miller beat USA's Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps made a funny, yet scary face before the 200-meter butterfly semi-finals at the 2016 Olympic that landed him to go viral.

At the 2016 MTV's Video Music Awards, he revealed he was listening to Rapper Future's "Stick Talk."

At the 2012 London Olympic games, gymnast McKayla Maroney made a "not impressed" face after winning the silver medal in the vault finals.

She later said she found the meme kind of funny and even made the face with former president Barack Obama while visiting the White House.

“I was sad. I was upset. And I was not impressed,” Maroney said in a 2014 interview with Inside Gymnastics Magazine.

A picture of a seemingly bored lifeguard went viral at the 2016 Olympics.

The world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, was turned into a meme after looking and smiling at cameras during the 2016 Olympic semifinal 100-meter dash.

Olympic bobsledder Johnny Quinn went viral after tweeting he used his bobsled to escape a locked bathroom at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Quinn tweeted the door got either locked or jammed while we has taking a shower.

Jessica Ramsey danced for cameras after winning the women's U.S. Olympic team trials – track and field shot put competition in June that ultimately led her to become a meme.

And, remember the infamous green pool during the Olympics at Rio?

"Today was pretty gross," Australia's Maddison Keeney said after a competition. "You're standing on the stairs and you can't see your feet, one and half meters down. When you're standing up there it's a bit off-putting. I've never had a pool like this ever before. I just try to close my eyes and close my mouth."

A contractor mistakenly dumped hydrogen peroxide into the pool, which caused an adverse reaction when it mixed with chlorine. Olympic officials gave up on cleaning the green-tinged water and drained it before adding nearly 1 million gallons of clear water from a nearby practice pool.

Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best Olympic memes before Tokyo: Shirtless Tongan, Michael Phelps face