10 Olympic athletes who radiated the overall best vibes

The competitions are done, the medals have been handed out, and both Tom Cruise and Snoop Dogg are back in the United States. We all know what that means — the Olympics have ended.

What an incredible show Paris put on as host of the Games. There were thrilling finishes that lifted surprising underdogs to the podium, dominant performances and world records set, and no small amount of controversy.

In the end, sports fans from around the world may well look back and remember the 2024 Paris Olympics not for any one event in particular, but for the overall vibes. Here are 10 athletes that did more than just compete — they stole our hearts and embodied the Olympic spirit.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

It's fitting that the queen of track and field had a crown placed upon her head after breaking her own world record in the women's 400m hurdles. Team USA was dominant in Paris, taking home 14 golds and 34 total medals in athletics, but while Noah Lyles, Sha'Carri Richardson, and the rest of the team were outstanding, nobody gave off an air of invincibility the way McLaughlin-Levrone did.

Syd the Kid, as she was once called when she became an Olympian at just 17 years old in 2016, left archrival Femke Bol in the dust en route to her world record performance, then ran the fastest leg on a stacked American squad that included Shamier Little, Gabby Thomas, and Alexis Holmes in the 4x400, an event the Americans won by so much that it was compared to Secretariat's overwhelming performance in the Belmont Stakes in 1973.

McLaughlin-Levrone could have added to her trophy case by competing in the 200m and 400m individual events, but chose against trying to qualify for those and enduring a grueling schedule in Paris in favor of focusing on her "bread and butter." We'd say it worked out pretty well.

Stephen Nedoroscik

No list of Olympians with the best vibes would be complete without Stephen Nedoroscik, who single-handedly made the pommel horse cool.

Nedoroscik's clutch performance to close out the men's team competition clinched the first medal for the U.S. in the event since 2008, but more than his exquisite one-handed spin moves and perfect dismount were the vibes before and after his routine. Nedoroscik has become a cult hero for his habit of completing a Rubik's cube before competing, and he's been compared to Clark Kent and Superman for the bespectacled look that gave way to his heroic feat. With his teammates yelling, "COME ON STEVE," he nailed it after sitting for hours waiting for his time to shine.

Nedoroscik celebrated after sticking the landing as his parents lost their minds in the stands, then was mobbed and lifted up by his teammates in the purest expression of joy we saw in the Games.

"I don't know what's happening, did we do it?" he asked in bewilderment in a scene that called to mind Will Ferrell blacking out and nailing the debate against James Carville in Old School. As announcer Terry Gannon said, "You did it, Stephen. You did it."

Mondo Duplantis

It's hard (please excuse the word choice) to imagine any other pole vaulter stealing the show in the Olympics after Italy's Anthony Ammirati failed to clear the bar due to his ... pole, but Mondo Duplantis managed to do it.

Besides having a name that just exudes star power (seriously, could you picture someone named Mondo Duplantis working at the DMV or mopping floors?) Duplantis is unquestionably the best in the world at what he does, and he proved it again in Paris.

Duplantis, who has dual citizenship between the United States and Sweden but competes for the latter, had already become the first person since Bob Richards in 1956 to successfully defend Olympic gold in the pole vault. Not content with just being better than his competitors, he decided to take on his past self, and he broke his own world record on the final attempt of the competition just because he could.

This was the ninth time Duplantis has broken his own world record, a feat for which he savvily earned a cool $100k. Imagine being the greatest of all-time at just 24 years old? That's the vibes we're looking for.

Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles

There's a reason we chose these three ladies as the picture to go with this story. Not only is it an iconic image from arguably the most popular sport in the Games, it's a testament to the sportsmanship and respect that were displayed throughout the competition, regardless of team affiliation. Simone Biles is acknowledged as the greatest gymnast of all-time, but she wasn't above bowing down to her chief rival, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, who put on a fantastic show to win gold in the women's floor exercise.

The support and camaraderie between these competitors should also be instructive to the powers-that-be that now seem to be trying to take Jordan Chiles' bronze medal away on a technicality. Just as it was cruel and heartbreaking to see Romania's Ana Barbosu lose the bronze medal she believed she had won, it's equally excruciating to see Chiles get her moment ripped away after the fact.

The entire women's gymnastics competition was a joy to behold, and it would be a shame to taint that with any bitterness after the fact. Both ladies deserve their medals. Don't kill these amazing vibes for no reason.

Gabriel Medina

While we're talking about Brazilians in iconic pictures, Gabriel Medina, who took home bronze in the surfing competition which was held in faraway Tahiti, was the subject of hands-down one of the coolest photos we've ever seen. Check this out:

If you're talking about vibes, you have to include a surfer on your list, but Medina deserves inclusion for more than just this transcendent image. The 9.90 score he earned on the wave that immediately preceded this gravity-defying shot is the highest score in Olympic history. Medina's appeal to try to get it bumped up to a perfect 10 was denied, but if we were going off of vibes alone, it would have been a no-brainer.

Scottie Scheffler

On the one hand, you have a surfer, the epitome of cool. On the other, a guy whose entire wardrobe consists of polo shirts and khakis. Tough to believe they'd both make a list of the best Olympic vibes, but here we are.

Scottie Scheffler is known as the best golfer in the world today. His superior ball-striking makes him the favorite in any tournament he enters, and he's held the number one ranking for 65 straight weeks.

Scheffler was perhaps known more to non-golf fans as the guy that was bizarrely arrested during this year's PGA Championship than the guy who's won two of the past three Masters tournaments. Now, he might be remembered for his fourth round charge and show of emotion when receiving the gold medal.

Scheffler emerged from a crowded field by playing his best golf when nothing less would do, overcoming what was at one point a six-stroke deficit with less than nine holes to go. He eventually nipped Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood by one stroke, finishing at an Olympic record 19-under following his final round 62.

Scheffler's tears on the medal stand show just how much the Olympics means to these athletes. Many who left Paris with or without a medal have worked tirelessly for years, with very little fanfare or money to show for it. That's not Scheffler, who's made an incredibly good living on the PGA Tour, but as he tried in vain to dry his eyes as the Star Spangled Banner played, it served as a powerful reminder that playing for the love of the game still exists.

Tyrese Haliburton

Most of the people on our list took home Olympic hardware, and while it's true that American basketball player Tyrese Haliburton did, too, he was ... less instrumental in helping his team reach the top of the medal stand than most.

This is no knock on Haliburton, who is one of the best and most fun-to-watch basketball players in the world. The Indiana Pacer made All-NBA Third Team this past season while leading the league in assists, and he helped his team reach the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual world champion (don't say that around Noah Lyles, though) Boston Celtics.

On a USA team that consisted of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, to name a few, this was never going to be Haliburton's time to shine, but he took it in stride and seemed to enjoy every moment of his time in Paris. Haliburton always seemed to be the loudest and most supportive guy on the bench, but what really lands him on this list is his all-time tweet following Team USA's gold medal victory over France.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a man that gets it, and we can't wait to see him take on a larger role in 2028.

Kim Ye-ji and Yusuf Dikec

Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, not everyone can look cool holding a gun. Don't tell that to Kim Ye-ji and Yusuf Dikec, though, who threatened to do the impossible and help air pistol, of all things, steal the show in Paris.

Kim and Dikec were the epitome of cool, though they achieved that level of swag in different ways.

The internet had a field day with Kim and her futuristic assassin look, then went ever crazier for Dikec, who eschewed all the modern accoutrements that most other shooters use in favor of a casual, hand-in-pocket approach. Both were extremely effective, winning silver medals in their respective events, while inspiring countless works of fan art and demands for a video game where players can control them as the main character.

Forget vibes — this is what the kids call aura.

Trinity Rodman

Few Olympic teams could match the vibes of the U.S. Women's soccer team in these Olympics, but whereas in the recent past it was Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd making headlines, this time it was a new generation of players leading the U.S. to glory.

In truth, the entire U.S. front line could make this list. Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith were wonderful in helping lead the U.S. to a 7-0 Olympic record, and they each had a game-winner in the final three games of the elimination round. If we're only picking one vibes queen, it has to be Trinity Rodman.

Rodman stood out in Paris for her pink hair, inexhaustible smile and famous last name, but she let her game speak for itself. Her self-proclaimed "Trin Spin" broke the ice in the U.S.'s first game against Zambia, and she went on to tally two more goals and an assist before the tournament was done.

None was sweeter or more impactful than the extra-time dagger that she buried against Japan to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory, even if she doesn't remember it. Rodman, a natural righty, controlled a long ball up the right side, then cut back on a defender and smoked a shot with her left foot from a difficult angle into the upper 90. In an Olympics full of incredible moments, the two times that I yelled the loudest were on Rodman's shot and Steph Curry's gold medal-sealing three against France. That's pretty impressive company, and at only 22 years old, this is just the beginning for one of the U.S.'s brightest young stars.

Zhou Yaqin

Most people don't tune in to the Olympics in hopes of finding the most adorable thing they've ever seen in their lives. That's what the Puppy Bowl is for. But that's what they got if they stayed through the medal ceremony of the women's balance beam, where 18-year-old Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin beat Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and Suni Lee to claim the silver medal.

Zhou's performance was notable in its own right for its fearlessness and execution, but as she stood atop the medal stand with Alice D'Amato and Manila Esposito of Italy, who took gold and bronze respectively, she observed something that she'd obviously never seen before: the tradition of athletes biting their medals.

Zhou might have been confused, but she wanted in on the fun, and so she followed suit by putting mouth to silver, which in the process produced a video that will surely outlive us all. She's the final spot on our list because quite frankly, nobody is going to keep reading after clicking the play button again and again, so we may as well embrace it.