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On Sunday, August 11, the 2024 Paris Olympics came to an end, and over its two weeks of events, several K-pop moments grabbed attention. From many K-pop idols like BTS' Jin and SHINee's Minho participating in representative positions at the Olympics to the athletes expressing their admiration for K-pop groups like BTS and Stray Kids, there were quite a handful of K-pop highlights.
Moreover, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, BTS, the most popular K-pop boy band, was featured as one of the three representative items of South Korea. While fans and netizens are aware of the fast-paced and dominant growth of K-pop across the world and its many aspects, they were both shocked and intrigued to see K-pop make its way through this year's Olympic games.
From BTS Jin's Torch Relay to Stray Kids mention: All K-pop X 2024 Paris Olympics moments
1) BTS Jin as South Korea's Representative Torchbearer
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For the 2024 Paris Olympics, a total of 11,000 torchbearers from various participating countries were chosen as torchbearers. The torchbearers' role is to participate in the Torch Relay, where the torch is carried across the various cities in France before the event's opening ceremony.
BTS' Jin was chosen as the representative torchbearer for South Korea and carried the torch at the Louvre on July 14, which coincided with the National Day of France. He not only became the first K-pop idol to ever be selected as a torchbearer, but his participation increased K-pop's overseas sales to a whopping 1.23 trillion KRW.
2) Stray Kids tracks in Mexico's Alexa Moreno gymnastic floor routine
A gymnast from the Mexico team used several songs from the eight-piece K-pop boy group, Stray Kids, for her floor routine. As she performed a series of flips, twists, and rolls, the background music featured three famous Stay Kids tracks, S-Class, Maniac, and LALALALA.
3) Special Shoutout to BTS V
Several athletes expressed their admiration for BTS and the member, V. During a women's table tennis match featuring South Korean player Shin Yu-bin, the idol was mentioned. The commentator and his guest for the match, a fellow South Korean table tennis player, Seo Hye-won, stated that Shin Yu-bin is a great fan of BTS' V.
Additionally, V posted a picture in support of Shin Yu-bin. The commentator and Seo Hye-won talked about how the two table tennis players initially bonded over their love for the idol. After the match, during an interview with MBC Sports, Shin Yu-bin reacted to V's support for her.
"I could see BTS and something came up. So I went right in and it was me ㅇㅁㅇ!! My hands were shaking and I just sent this message to other people saying, ‘Mom, Dad, what’s going on?"
On the other hand, a weightlifter from Thailand, Chaidi Duangakson, was seen attending an event with BT21 hairpins. Fans immediately recognized the clips and also found out that she was an ARMY.
4) BLACKPINK's Pink Venom at the Women's Beach Volleyball match
Among the several K-pop songs featured at the 2024 Paris Olympics, BLACKPINK's Pink Venom was also played. During the women's beach volleyball match, the song was performed twice by two different teams before the games began.
5) BTS' mention at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony
During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, each participating country was introduced with a brief explanation of its significant cultural representations. For South Korea, the commentator mentioned that the three most important things in the country are BTS, Kimchi, and Hanbok (the country's traditional attire).
6) SHINee Minho as the Olympic™ friend
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) created a new program called Olympic Friend, which allowed celebrities and famous figures to join the Olympic movement and spread its values.
K-drama actor Lee Dong-wook and SHINee's Minho were selected as their first Olympic™ friends. The idol also supported the women's table tennis match where South Korea won against Germany 3-0.
7) SEVENTEEN's BSS and their Lightsticks
The subunit of SEVENTEEN, BSS, consisting of DK, Hoshi, and Seungkwan, also contributed to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Their latest track, Fighting, was chosen as the cheering song for Team South Korea. Additionally, they released limited-edition lightsticks specifically for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With quite an impressive list of interactions between K-pop and the 2024 Paris Olympics, fans and netizens are excited and impressed by the industry's reach.
