Olympics

Another Olympics optical illusion goes viral — this time involving Tang Qianting’s swimsuit

A bizarre trick of the eye creating the illusion of an impossibly tiny waist on a Paris Olympics swimmer went viral, the second moment of the games that made viewers at home do a double-take.

A video posted to TikTok by user adamclayton shows Chinese swimmer Tang Qianting lining up at the starting blocks ahead of the women’s 100-meter breaststroke event.

As she stands at the edge of the pool, the sides of her two-toned blue-and-teal Speedo bathing suit happened to perfectly blend in with the wall behind her, inadvertently making it appear as though her waist was only a few inches wide.

Screenshot of the video showing the illusion.
The color of Chinese swimmer Tang Qianting’s bathing suit created an illusion that her waist was only a few inches wide, delighting social media users. adamclayton_/TikTok
Tang Qianting smiles and waves at the crowd in her viral swimsuit.
The video of Qianting went viral, garnering nearly 6 million views across TikTok and Twitter. Getty Images

The video, captioned “She’s SNATCHED,” was viewed more than 5.5 million times on TikTok and another 4 million on X, with many commenters cracking jokes at the uncanny visual.

“Paris Ozempics 2024,” one user chimed in, referencing the famous diabetes medication turned viral weight-loss drug.

“When I have salad instead of my well deserved 3 servings of pasta,” another joked.

“I’m gonna need a link for that bathing suit,” said a third commenter.

The video was the second unusual video to come out of the Paris games in as many days.

On Tuesday, a one-in-a-million photo of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina in which the medal-hopeful and his surfboard appear to be hovering several feet above the ocean spread like wildfire.

Oakley instantly declared the snap, “one of the greatest Olympic shots!”

Tang finished the event in second place.