Olympics ‘Muffin Man’ leaves people baffled with string of bizarre videos – but Hoda Kotb is a massive fan
As top athletes from around the world compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, an unexpected dish 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 he ate during his stay in the Olympic Village.
One of those treats was a delicious looking chocolate muffin, Henrik fell in love with it immediately after taking his first bite of the moist treat.
In the days that followed, the 27-year-old athlete shared a slew of hilarious clips showing him sneaking muffins into his room, keeping them in bulk in his drawers, and even taking them with him to various activities.
Millions of people immediately became obsessed with Henrik’s muffin obsession, making both the swimmerânow dubbed the Olympic Muffin Manâand the dessert into huge social media sensations, and catching the attention of Today show hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie.
It all started when Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted a video on TikTok discussing all the food he ate during his time in the Olympic Village
One of those things was a delicious looking chocolate muffin, and Henrik immediately fell in love with it after taking his first bite of the gooey treat.
In the days that followed, the 27-year-old sports star shared a series of hilarious clips showing him sneaking some into his room, keeping large quantities of them in his drawers and even taking muffins with him while taking part in various activities.
Soon, other athletes staying in the Olympic Village also tried the sweet snack and shared their own reviews on the video streaming platform.
And for those who couldn’t taste the muffin, they tried to find ‘imitations’ of it online or recreated it at home so they too could experience the sweet, chocolatey goodness.
Henrik first posted about the muffin last Thursday, when he wrote down everything he had eaten so far in the Olympic Village.
After taking a big bite out of the muffin, his eyes immediately widened with joy and he held up the âokayâ hand signal to show his approval.
â11/10,â he wrote on the screen. âInsane.â
A day later, Henrik uploaded a clip of a muffin on his desk in his room, while the romantic song What You Won’t Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell played in the background.
âThe most beautiful thing about the Olympic Village so far,â he wrote.
He also shared a video of himself staring at a half-eaten muffin covered in chocolate.
Millions of people immediately became obsessed with Henrik’s muffin obsession, leading to the swimmer being nicknamed the Olympic Muffin Man
It also turned the dessert into a huge social media sensation, catching the attention of Today hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie
Soon, other athletes staying at the Olympic Village also came to try the sweet snack and shared their own reviews, such as swimmers Enkhkhuslen Batbayar (left) and Freya Anderson (right).
And for those who couldn’t taste the muffin, they tried to find ‘imitations’ of it online or recreated it at home so they too could experience the sweet, chocolatey goodness
Days later, Henrik continued his muffin chronicles, posting a video of his friend sitting at a table as the words âI have a feeling you only came for the chocolate muffinsâ appeared on the screen.
Then Henrik, who was just finishing a piece of food, was mentioned.
In another video, Henrik sang along to a clip from the movie Shrek: ‘Do you know the Muffin Man?’
âI hereby declare myself the Olympic Muffin Man,â he wrote.
Other TikToks show him walking down the street with four muffins in his hand and opening a drawer in his room full of them.
In another photo, he stood on his porch watching the sunset, a muffin in his hand.
âAnother beautiful day in the Olympic Village,â he cheered.
A day later, Henrik uploaded a clip of a muffin on his desk in his room, while the romantic song What You Won’t Do For Love by Bobby Caldwell played in the background.
He also posted a video of his friend saying, “I feel like you’re just here for the chocolate muffin.” He then switched 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 full of them
In another photo he stood on his porch watching the sunset, a muffin in tow
His videos have been viewed millions of times and have helped generate worldwide interest in 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 Wednesday morning and gave their approval.
âWow, he’s right,â Hoda cheered after finishing one.