Some Americans are so salty about Ariarne Titmus‘ incredible win over US Olympic elite Katie Ledecky that they’re actually hating on her coach and his iconic celebratory dance.
In case you missed it, Titmus won gold in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics against Ledecky, which is HUGE because of Ledecky’s status as basically a god, especially in the US.
Titmus’ coach, Dean Boxall, absolutely lost his shit following the win – and by lost his shit, I mean he screamed his head off, threw his fists in the air, and humped a barrier in an absolutely boonta victory dance. It was a lot, but hell, the fkn win as a whole was a lot, and Boxall was just dancing with the energy every Aussie was experiencing in their living room watching the race.
But because Americans just can’t handle seeing us win, some have taken to their screens to talk shit about Titmus’ race – and others have even come for Boxall’s character.
seeing brits and americans cry when we beat them in sport is literally the only thing that makes me feel patriotic https://t.co/YtLZaJrylp
— Nick Schadegg (@nickschadegg) July 26, 2021
It’s Ariarne, mate.
That guy sets off some bad vibes for me. But I can be over-sensitive.
— Carol. Hillary voter. Just say no to MAGA. (@busywriting) July 26, 2021
Australian swim coach needs to get the hell out of here with that. Disgrace to the game.
— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) July 26, 2021
A bunch of anti-Titmus/Boxwall tweets have since been deleted, but not before this iconic meme immortalised them forever.
😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/IUJBRpWlu4
— Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) July 26, 2021
In a since-deleted tweet, US author Laura Chapin said: “What the Australia coach did isn’t funny or cute. It bigfoots a woman athlete winning a gold medal and centers the attention on him.
“It’s vulgar and frankly offensive and he should apologise to her and everyone else.”
Look, I get that the display may have been a little bit ~much~ for certain pearl clutching Americans who don’t get what a big deal this race was to us, but to make it seem like all their saltiness is out of concern for Titmus’ media coverage is a joke.
I can already foresee titmus’s uncomfortably aggressive coach getting more media attention in the US than she does, and I am preemptively very very very annoyed by it!!
— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) July 26, 2021
Titmus herself was teary with joy at her coach’s celebration. They’re in this together, as a team, and as she said after the race, he “means the world to me.” SO, random US Twitter users that are hating on him in her name, you can fuck right off thanks. Maybe the issue isn’t with Boxall’s enthusiasm and support for Titmus being “uncomfortably aggressive” but with the US media, which, you know, isn’t even his problem.
https://twitter.com/BoganFit/status/1419565469694971907?s=20
[People from the only country where it’s normal to carry a concealed weapon into a restaurant] hey that swimming coach went a bit over the top hey
— Dave (@Mesut_Ausil) July 26, 2021
Anyway, Americans can clutch their pearls and call Boxall aggressive all they want, but Titmus still won this incredible race and no amount of saltiness is going to strip her of her iconic status right here in Oz.
