Based on social media, the towering Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular athlete in the world with around 517 million followers. He is followed by Lionel Messi with 298 million followers. The footballer also ranks third on the fake podium: Neymar has 283 million followers. The fourth most popular is Indian cricketer Virat Kohli with 195 million followers, while basketball player LeBron James closed the five list with 157 million followers.
However, none of them are located in the Olympic Village, and no one (yet) has conducted a representative survey of the most popular athletes there. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics are held under strict regulations, and athletes and journalists also follow a tight schedule on a daily basis, which makes in-person interactions very difficult.
However, we can get a picture of what’s happening in the Olympic Village from the posts on social media, and judging by the photos, it looks like the most popular tennis player: Novak Djokovic.
The Serbs can write the first history of the world in Tokyo: you can do the Gold Championship.
Even Grand Slams (when a player wins all four Grand Slams annually—the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open—are also rare in tennis, not to mention the Gold Slams, which means winning four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics. year.
Djokovic has already won three of the five, and has also won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, and could also compete in the Olympics in Tokyo. The US Open will be held in late summer. The Golden Slam runs one tennis player so far: Steffi Graf in 1988. Rod Laver held the men’s Grand Slam tournament in 1969, although Djokovic was the reigning champion in all four races in 2015-2016. Moreover, in Tokyo, he will not have his biggest rivals there either: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have not started either, and defending champion Andy Murray has fallen behind.
Tennis is a popular sport, and leader Djokovic is on the road almost all year round, so it’s no wonder he has fans from all over the world. One day, for example, he introduced her to Belgian gymnasts.
But in the athletes’ canteen, he took pictures first with a Turk and then with an Indian athlete, and although we weren’t present at the birth of any of the photos, Djokovic hardly took the lead. Regardless of anyone who looks, you can still find dozens of photos of the Serbian tennis player standing cheerfully with the residents of the Olympic village.
“It’s a great experience for me. It’s a great feeling to see so many people follow and love tennis. We also represent our country and our sport in the Olympics, it’s unique to be in one place with so many different athletes. We can see who is training, how they regenerate , how he eats, and how he thinks about sports and life.” “Great, I feel good here,” quotes USA Today Novak Djokovic.
“I am fortunate to have been able to perform in my fourth Olympics, that is always the atmosphere in Olympic Village. We get a little bit of this as an individual athlete. The Davis Cup or the ATP Cup is a similar experience, but the Olympics is very special. The Serbian tennis player concluded” I enjoy every moment.”
(Cover photo: Novak Djokovic in the first round match in Tokyo. Photo: Photo Alliance/Getty Images Hungary)
