The Tokyo Olympics are currently underway, and the ongoing competitions have seen a handful of surprise references and homages to the hugely popular manga and anime series One Piece throughout the events.
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Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the official account of One Piece’s staff tweeted out two messages to the two athletes who performed the homages, Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou and American shot-putter Payton Otterdahl.
Αγαπητέ άλτη από την Ελλάδα, Μιλτιάδη Τέντογλου:
Πραγματικά γιορτάζουμε και μεις, μαζί με τους φίλους μας ανά τον κόσμο. Νιώθουμε απεριόριστο σεβασμό για την προσπάθεια και τα επιτεύγματα σου! pic.twitter.com/l298Fv9Crg
— ONE PIECEスタッフ【公式】 (@Eiichiro_Staff) August 5, 2021
Dear USA shot putter; Payton Otterdahl
We sincerely celebrate the activities of our “NAKAMA” around the world with the utmost respect for your efforts and achievements. pic.twitter.com/wSpnifZyK4
— ONE PIECEスタッフ【公式】 (@Eiichiro_Staff) August 5, 2021
The first athlete to reference the series was Tentoglou, who drew curious looks and questions when he bent down and touched his fist to the ground during his introduction at the Olympics. While fans of the series will understand the reference, many didn’t, and when asked, Tentoglou was extremely excited to reveal that it was a reference to Luffy’s Second Gear pose.
“If you know, you know,” Tentoglou said. “It’s from One Piece. It’s a power-up that Luffy has,” he said before striking the pose again. Tentoglou would later go on to win gold in the long jump event, bringing home a medal as well as getting the chance to praise one of his favorite series.
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Otterdahl was the latest athlete to showcase their love for the series, coming out and incorporating the iconic pose of Straw Hat member Franky into his introduction. During his pose, Otterdahl also seemed to say the words “Super,” which is Franky’s catchphrase throughout the series. Otterdahl would later go on to place 10th in the event but did succeed in getting a shoutout from the folks behind One Piece as a consolation prize.