‘The only Olympic Village love story that matters’ is about a Norwegian swimmer and his chocolate muffins
For one Olympian, the only thing more precious than a gold medal is ... a chocolate muffin?
Henrik Christiansen, a Norwegian swimmer who competed in the men’s 800-meter freestyle and will compete in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle on Aug. 3, has fallen head over heels for the Olympic Village’s chocolate muffins — and he’s documenting the entire affair on TikTok.
“Reviewing some of the meals i’ve had in the Olympic Village so far,” Christiansen wrote on his first video that includes the chocolaty treat.
He gives the muffin a “11/10” rating and describes it as “insane.”
A representative for Sodexo Live, the French catering company serving up Christiansen’s new favorite food, tells TODAY.com that the item is served in the boulangerie (bakery) it operates in the Olympic Village.
Later, Christiansen was still thinking about the first muffin he had because that same day he filmed a follow-up video, using Bobby Caldwell’s 1978 song “What You Won’t Do for Love,” in the style of that wildly viral chocolate-covered strawberry TikTok.
“The single greatest thing about the Olympic Village so far??,” Christiansen captioned the video.
Christiansen has been posting about his Olympics experience since June 1, when he announced he was headed to the Paris Games.
Since then, he’s posted steadily about swimming, Olympics outfits, the Eiffel Tower and the thrill of the Opening Ceremony, but it’s his muffin videos that have captured the internet’s heart.
Since he’s been in Paris, the Olympian has posted not one, not two, but 12 videos (so far) about the “choccy muffin,” set to dance tracks, viral memes and more.
His most viral video shows him and teammate Nicholas Lia acting out the famous zipline scene from comedy show “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” where the zipline, in this case, is the muffin.
“I feel like you’re just here for the chocolate muffin,” Lia tells Christiansen as he is face-deep in the treat.
Meanwhile, Simone Biles became the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games, and Stephen Nedoroscik helped break a 16-year medal drought for Team USA’s male gymnasts with his pommel horse performance, but the public couldn’t look away from this man and his muffins.
“I now know more about the chocolate muffin than the actual Olympic Games that are happening,” commented one of his fans.
“the way how his aura lit up after taking a bite of the choccy muffin,” wrote another.
“the only Olympic village love story that matters,” commented someone else.
Christiansen, who got on the phone with TODAY.com from the Olympic Village, where he and his muffins currently reside, says his newfound viral fame “doesn’t feel real.”
He says he’s been stopped multiple times in the Olympic Village by people — including New Zealand swimmer Lewis Clareburt — who wanted a photo with the “muffin man.”
As a distance swimmer, Christiansen typically needs to eat a lot of calories — about 7,000 of them — on heavier training days, he says. But at the Olympics, when he’s competing, “it’s a lot lower,” he says — around 4,000 calories — but he can still have some muffins.
But how many muffins has he consumed, exactly? The Olympian says the number is probably lower than one might expect.
“I haven’t really kept track of all of them,” Christiansen says. “I think I’ve shown off more muffins than I’ve actually eaten.”
If you’re suddenly craving a certain chocolate muffin, you’re far from alone. After days of sweet-toothed sleuths attempting to track down who makes the muffin, French catering company Coup de Pates confirmed via LinkedIn on July 31 that it is, in fact, their creation.
“We knew our Maxi Muffin with Intense Chocolate was something special... but we didn’t expect it to spark such a chocolate storm! Thank you all for the love,” the company wrote.
Coup de Pates tells TODAY.com that its recipe for the muffin is a “secret crafted by our chefs,” but the product is “available in many countries around the world” and is on sale for food service professionals on the company’s e-commerce website.
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This article was originally published on TODAY.com
