What happens to the “victory selfies” taken by medalists on the podium?

This is a new feature of these Olympic Games in Paris: a selfie of the athletes on the podium, medals around their necks, sponsored by Samsung. A publicity stunt by the brand, but selfies that were not widely shared on social networks.

South Koreans and North Koreans, gathered side by side to take a selfie. A rare image that has gone around the world, taken on the podium of the mixed doubles in table tennis at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. At each medal ceremony, a phone is given to the athletes, the time to immortalize the moment. It is the “victory selfie”, an advertising campaign signed by the South Korean brand Samsung, partner of the Games, and designed as an opportunity for the champions to immortalize their success. Except that for the Koreans, it is more the image of the athletes taking a photo of themselves that was taken than the selfie itself. What happens to these photos? Where can I find them?

According to the International Olympic Committee website, these “victory selfies” allow champions to “save and share their podium experience with their family and fans on social media”. While it is impossible to know whether the families of the French medalists were able to obtain the selfie of their loved one to frame it in the living room, the images of the athletes taking pictures of themselves are numerous and often relayed, but the selfies themselves are rare on social networks. After a quick overview of all the French gold medalists, on August 3, only the selfie of the French judo team was visible on the networks.

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Athletes are the first owners of the image. As of May 2024, athletes have been warned by the IOC: “You will be able to upload selfies directly from your Athlete365 account.” It is therefore on a personal platform that all medallists can find this souvenir. It is then up to them to decide what they do with it. However, they are not really the only ones to have access to it. The IOC website specifies that “Media rights holders will be able to access the victory selfies and the Paris 2024 team will have the right to display them on the site’s giant screen”. This is why the Olympic Games social media accounts display certain photos, particularly on Instagram. The main partners of the Games can also use them, “by commercial agreement of all athletes present in the photo”.

If selfies don’t appear on social media, it’s because the athletes preferred to keep them to themselves, but if the photo exists, it’s because they agreed to take it. Indeed, “sIf at least one of the athletes at the victory ceremony does not wish to appear in the victory selfie, then it cannot be taken”the IOC says on its website.

Athletes are then encouraged to post these selfies on their social networks. They can also commercialize the selfie, but only with “Top partners”, the fifteen or so global sponsors of the Games, and only if all the athletes in the photo agree. In the case of non-commercial use, however, no agreement is required.

In any case, Samsung is continuing its PR stunt, going so far as to offer athletes its special Olympic edition smartphone, a model that is not yet on the market, and promising that its “victory selfie” operation will continue until the end of the Olympic Games. There will therefore still be plenty of opportunities to see the medalists.