Six celebrity Olympic fans eyeing Paris 2024 with six months to go

Rapper Snoop Dogg for Team USA; Priyanka Chopra Jonas supporting Team India; actor Russell Crowe, cheering on Australia; Ryan Reynolds and Team Canada – these are just a few of the celebrity contingent looking forward to the Games in Paris, which officially start six months today.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place from 26 July to 11 August and The Paralympic Games of Paris 2024 from 28 August to 8 September, with the world coming together in moments of drama, frustration, triumph, and joy as athletes compete once again in front of fans, iconic monuments and a worldwide audience.

So with six months to go, Olympics.com picks six celebrities who can also add 'Olympic fan' to their bios.

• Olympic Games Paris 2024: Full schedule and day-by-day competitions

Snoop Dogg and the Olympics – not his first rodeo

“The horse crip-walking! You see that? That's sick.”

And so we enter the world of rapper and all-round entertainer, Snoop Dogg, commentating on the Olympic Games.

That remark came after the long-time Olympics fan joined with comedian Kevin Hart in commentating on a clip from the dressage event at Tokyo 2020, both bringing their own inimitable style to the Olympic proceedings.

That quirky style, that drew millions of views on Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg, has now been made official with Snoop joining NBC US coverage as 'Special Correspondent' in Paris.    

“I grew up watching the Olympics,” Snoop Dogg said in a press release. “Let’s elevate, celebrate, and make these games unforgettable, smoke the competition, and may the best shine like gold.

"Peace and Olympic LOVE, ya dig?”

Renowned sports fan Russell Crowe surprises Matilda's star

"I realised I was hearing the Gladiator's voice but it didn't click until he asked how the team was doing," recalls Olympian Thea Slatyer in The Matilda Effect, a book about the rollercoaster journey of the Australian women's football team.

Published ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, Slatyer, who played for the side at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, recalls the time she was walking down the street in Sydney when she was approached by a man wearing a hat and sunglasses.

"It was Russell Crowe, just casually recognising me in the street instead of the other way around," she said.

The actor, famous for his love of sport, will no doubt be keeping an eye on the Matilda’s current team as they navigate the qualification process with the aim of claiming a spot in Paris.

The Matildas have qualified for the third and final round of the Olympic Qualifying tournament and will face Uzbekistan over two legs on 24 and 28 February for a ticket to France.

If they need help making sure they perform at their best in a huge arena in front of noisy crowds should they make it to France, it might be worth getting in touch with the Gladiator for some advice.

• As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
• Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas' proud of Team India's best ever performance at Tokyo 2020

"Best two weeks in India’s sporting history," enthused Indian actress and producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas to her 67 million followers on Instagram following the Tokyo 2020 Games, delayed to 2021.

The congratulatory message was posted alongside a montage video of India's incredible performances including Neeraj Chopra's historic gold in javelin and PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals.

Just weeks earlier Chopra Jonas had posted a photo of herself watching the opening ceremony on TV, citing, "The mood is somber, yet the moment feels nostalgic.

"We all know the games are unlike anything we’ve experienced before, with the best of the best athletes in the world competing for the pride of their countries. The arenas may be without an audience, but our cheers won't stop, no matter where we are.

"Good luck to everyone participating. Know that you are giving an embattled world something to collectively cheer for."

Mr T, curling super fan

"This is my first time in DC..." said Red Gerard, the 2018 Olympic slopestyle champion on the red carpet at a Team USA Awards Winter Olympic celebratory event. Distracted by somebody walking behind him, his comments veer off, "... Mr T is here too, if you guys didn't know".

The A-Team star couldn't get enough of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, especially curling.

"Curling is cool," said Mr T at the event. "They make it look so easy but it's not easy at all. There's a method to the madness."

The then 65-year-old had tweeted throughout the Games in Republic of Korea, with quips using his famous catchphrase such as: "I pity the fool who won't even try."

Explaining why he was such a fan, the cult icon from the 80s TV series said: "I like curling. It's less wear and tear on the body.

"I've conquered the tough stuff. I did all the tough stuff. But curling, that was special. So I said I want to know about curling so I became a student of curling."

With the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games currently taking place, Mr T is no doubt continuing his education, watching on as the next generation emerges.

Lady Gaga's emotions overflow on history-making Olympic day

"The olympics is the best ever," [sic] posted Lady Gaga of the London 2012 Olympic Games, "but i went through a whole pack of tissues last night. watching hard working athletes achieve their dreams."

The date that Gaga posted? Only one of the most auspicious days in Olympic history – 31 July 2012.

It was on this day that her compatriot, Michael Phelps, became the most decorated athlete in Games history, winning an astonishing 19th Olympic medal. As ever, though, with elite sport, the emotion intertwined with the achievement came with a twist.

Phelps' record-breaking medal came with gold in the 4x200m relay but it was the race an hour earlier in the 200m butterfly that contained all the drama.

Previously thought indestructible in the discipline, unbeaten over a decade at that point, Phelps was pipped to the wall by South African usurper, Chad Le Clos, in an astonishing finish that wowed the competitors, the crowds, and clearly, one supersonic pop star watching at home.

That same day, the US women's gymnasts claimed gold, claiming their first Olympic team title since 1996.

One member of the Fierce Five, Gabby Douglas, also went on to win the all-around title at London 2012 before retiring after the team defended their title Rio 2016.

Plot twist.

Douglas announced a comeback in July 2023, with the aim of competing at Paris 2024.

Should that happen, the applause from Gaga will be fierce.

Ryan Reynolds, Team Canada's biggest fan

Such a fan of Team Canada that after actor Ryan Reynolds watched the figure skating pair of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win gold at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, he asked that the duo raise his children.

Virtue seemed on board with the idea: "And here I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with a post-competition career path..."

Reynolds, renowned for his playful persona, is an all-round sports fan, such as investing in, and bringing Hollywood glamour to Wrexham football team, a club in North Wales who compete in the fourth level of the English league system.

On the retirement of women's footballer Christine Sinclair, a three-time Olympic medallist, including gold at Tokyo 2020, Reynolds sent a heartfelt video message: "I wanted to thank you for inspiring me, inspiring my kids, kids all over Canada and the world. You're incredible and you deserve all the applause that hands could possibly give."

"I'm shook," responded Sinclair of the message.

Come Paris 2024, there may well be some other 'shook' athletes receiving messages from celebrities focused, like us all, on the drama set to unfold.