Italian gymnast at Paris Olympics 2024 goes viral for endorsing parmesan cheese
“She sold out to Big Parma,” commented a netizen on photos of Giorgia Villa straddling gigantic thousand-dollar wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
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There’s a huge endorsement market for Olympians — brands eager to associate themselves with medal winners, like Joseph Schooling scooping up contracts with Hugo Boss, Nestle and other big companies after cinching gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
One athlete at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris went viral for her unusual brand endorsement, which is notably different from the typical deals with glam fashion houses.
Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa, 21, endorses famed Italian cheese consortium Parmigiano-Reggiano. The historied brand is best known for producing its namesake hard parmesan cheese, which is made only in the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia, and aged for at least two years. A whole 32kg wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano typically costs around S$2,000. 
After her win, old photos of her endorsement with the cheese maker — which was reportedly a two-year deal from 2021 to 2022 — made its rounds online again. 
In the photos, a bedazzled Villa did splits on gigantic wheels of cheese and posed with parmesan wedges. Netizens were quick to comment about her sponsorship, joking that she had “sold out to Big Parma” and is the “most grateful athlete” at the Paris Olympics.
Considering how serious Italy is about cheese-making, a cheese endorsement for a medal-winning Olympian doesn’t seem so random after all.
Photos: Parmigiano-Reggiano
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One athlete at this year’s Olympic Games in Paris went viral for her unusual brand endorsement, which is notably different from the typical deals with glam fashion houses.
Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa, 21, endorses famed Italian cheese consortium Parmigiano-Reggiano. The historied brand is best known for producing its namesake hard parmesan cheese, which is made only in the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia, and aged for at least two years. A whole 32kg wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano typically costs around S$2,000.
Say cheese
Villa and her teammates won silver at the Paris Olympics for the women’s All-Around gymnastics final. The medal is also Italy’s first gymnastics team medal for the Olympics since 1928.
After her win, old photos of her endorsement with the cheese maker — which was reportedly a two-year deal from 2021 to 2022 — made its rounds online again. In the photos, a bedazzled Villa did splits on gigantic wheels of cheese and posed with parmesan wedges. Netizens were quick to comment about her sponsorship, joking that she had “sold out to Big Parma” and is the “most grateful athlete” at the Paris Olympics.Considering how serious Italy is about cheese-making, a cheese endorsement for a medal-winning Olympian doesn’t seem so random after all.
Photos: Parmigiano-Reggiano
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
8days.sg is now on #tiktok! Follow us on www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat
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