While top athletes from across the globe fiercely battle it out at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an unexpected item has become the star of the show - a chocolate muffin.
It all started when Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted a video on TikTok reviewing all the food that he consumed while staying at the Olympic Village.
One of those items was a delicious-looking chocolate muffin, and immediately after taking his first bite of the gooey treat, Henrik fell in love.
In the days that followed, the sports star, 27, shared a slew of hilarious clips that showed him sneaking some back to his room, storing hoards of them in his drawers, and even bringing muffins with him as he participated in various activities.
Immediately, millions of people became invested in Henrik's muffin obsession, transforming both the swimmer - who has now been dubbed as the Olympics Muffin Man - and the dessert into massive social media sensations as well as catching the attention of Today hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie.
It all started when Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted a video on TikTok reviewing all the food that he consumed while staying at the Olympic Village
One of those items was a delicious-looking chocolate muffin, and immediately after taking his first bite of the gooey treat, Henrik fell in love
In the days that followed, the sports star, 27, shared a slew of hilarious clips that showed him sneaking some back to his room, storing hoards of them in his drawers, and even bringing muffins with him as he participated in various activities
Soon, other athletes staying at the Olympic Village rushed to try the sweet snack and shared their own reviews to the video streaming platform.
And for those who couldn't taste the muffin, they attempted to find 'dupes' of it online or recreate it at home, so they too could experience the sweet, chocolate goodness.
Henrik first posted about the muffin last Thursday, while reviewing everything he had consumed so far at the Olympic Village.
After taking a huge bite out of the muffin, his eyes instantly widened with joy as he held up an 'okay' hand signal to show his approval.
'11/10,' he wrote on the screen. 'Insane.'
Then, one day later, Henrik uploaded a clip that showed a muffin sitting on his desk in his room as the romantic tune What You Won't Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell played in the background.
'The single greatest thing about the Olympic Village so far,' he captioned it.
He also shared a video of himself starring at a half-eaten muffin with chocolate all over his face.
Immediately, millions of people became invested in Henrik's muffin obsession, resulting in the swimmer being dubbed as the Olympics Muffin Man
It also transformed and the dessert into a massive social media sensation and caught the attention of Today hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie
Soon, other athletes staying at the Olympic Village rushed to try the sweet snack and shared their own reviews, like swimmers Enkhkhuslen Batbayar (left) and Freya Anderson (right)
And for those who couldn't taste the muffin, they attempted to find 'dupes' of it online or recreate it at home, so they too could experience the sweet, chocolate goodness
Days later, the Henrik and muffin chronicles continued when he posted a video that showed his friend sitting at a table as the words, 'I feel like you're just here for the chocolate muffin,' flashed across the screen.
It then cut to Henrik, who was of course in the middle of eating another.
In a different video, Henrik mouthed along to a sound byte from the movie Shrek that said, 'Do you know the Muffin Man?'
'I hereby declare myself as the Olympic Muffin Man,' he captioned it.
Other TikToks showed him walking down the street with four muffins in his hand and opening a drawer in his room that was filled with them.
A different one featured him standing on his porch watching the sunset, with a muffin in tow.
'Yet another beautiful day in the Olympic Village,' he gushed.
Then, one day later, Henrik uploaded a clip that showed a muffin sitting on his desk in his room as the romantic tune What You Won't Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell played in the background
He also posted a video of his friend that said, 'I feel like you're just here for the chocolate muffin.' It then cut to Henrik, who was in the middle of eating another
Other TikToks showed him walking down the street with four muffins in his hand and opening a drawer in his room that was filled with them
A different one featured him standing on his porch watching the sunset, with a muffin in tow
His videos got millions of views, and they sparked a worldwide intrigue into the Olympic Village muffins.
He inspired other Olympians to try the dessert and document it online, including swimmers Enkhkhuslen Batbayar, Freya Anderson, and Jasmine Schofield.
Today show hosts Hoda and Savannah, as well as Al Roker and Craig Melvin even tasted the treat on air on Wednesday morning, and they gave their seal of approval.
'Wow, he's right,' Hoda gushed after consuming one.
