These Olympians oozing ‘aura’ in Paris are winning the internet

The internet is watching a fierce competition in Paris and paying tribute to an Ancient Greek tradition that transcends borders.

No, we’re not talking about the Olympic Games. We’re talking about something else: aura.

The concept has been reclaimed from its ancient mythological roots by Gen Z - Aura was the Greek goddess of breeze - to describe a person who oozes an elusive form of je-ne-sais-quoi charm. It has been heralded the summer’s “new coolness currency,” with those winning aura points described as “auramaxxing.” And athletes from around the world are emitting aura as they compete on the world stage.

Here are some of the Olympians winning points on social media for their aura levels, including from many who don’t typically follow their sports.

Kim Yeji, South Korean pistol shooter

Kim Yeji, the 31-year-old South Korean sharpshooting sensation, took home a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol competition - and images of her competing, complete with futuristic-looking shooting glasses and a baseball cap, have set off adoration on social media, as our colleague Shane O’Neill wrote in his Style Memo.

“The most ‘Main Character Energy’ I’ve ever seen in my life,” one person commented, while others dubbed her the “coolest woman in the world” or said it was “the most aura I have ever seen in an image.”

Kim finished only behind her teammate and roommate Ye Jin Oh, who won gold.

“It’s kind of a bummer that Oh’s gold medal is being overshadowed. And it’s kind of a bummer a really cool story about female friendship is being subsumed by fashion stans,” O’Neill wrote. “But then, there are also a ton of Asian women online who are losing their minds over how cool Yeji looks. And let’s face it: She does look really cool.”

Yusuf Dikec, Turkey pistol shooter

Another shooter is also setting the internet alight - this time from Turkey.

Yusuf Dikec wasn’t wearing the eye gear that other Olympic shooters opted for, and his ears weren’t protected with bulky defenders like many other shooters’ were. He had both eyes wide open and his left hand casually tucked into his pocket.

But he casually took home Turkey’s first silver in shooting, looking unbothered - which just increased his aura quotient even more.

“This is what you call aura,” said one entertainment site of Dikec. “Shows up without any specialist equipment for shooting, looking like he just came out of the crowd and gave it a go.”

“Insane aura,” said another. More than 40,000 people online appeared to agree.

Others are comparing the salt-and-pepper haired 51-year-old to Bollywood stars, famed for successfully hitting moving targets out of helicopters and the like.

Dikec appears to be welcoming his virality, by posting reels about his nonchalant attitude to his Instagram page.

Even the IOC appeared to acknowledge the excitement, posting side by side photos of Kim and Dikec while calling them the “stars we didn’t know we needed.”

Stephen Nedoroscik, Team USA gymnast

Critics had questioned Stephen Nedoroscik’s spot on the men’s gymnastics Olympic team, given his single specialty - pommel horse.

On Monday, Nedoroscik, 25, proved them wrong - appearing to float through his 40-second routine, swinging and moving his hands with precision, and helping the U.S. men’s team win bronze after a 16-year Olympic medal drought.

Within hours, he became something of a cult hero, and the internet had christened him with a new name: pommel horse guy. “I know nothing about gymnastics and here I am living and dying with whether this nerdy guy in glasses named Steve can pommel that horse. The Olympics are a curse,” joked one user.

[Stephen Nedoroscik is America’s quirky, glasses-wearing pommel horse hero]

The Rubik’s-cube-solving, electrical engineering major has now been compared to Clark Kent, after cameras captured him with his eyes closed under his glasses and his head tilted back ahead of his crucial performance.

“When I saw the kid with the specs take them off to get on the pommel horse, I knew US were medalling,” another person tweeted.

Ilona Maher, Team USA women’s rugby

Ilona Maher, leader of the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team, was already a social media star before the Olympics - but she is also a winner - and her team won the first-ever Olympic medal for rugby for the United States.

The 27-year-old is the rugby player with the biggest social media following, according to the AP, and she uses her platform to host body positivity chats and urge more people to get involved in women’s rugby.

She’s been credited with helping rugby reach more viewers this year than ever before - and has won fans with her authentic style, giving rapid-fire media interviews after winning while eating a sandwich, or doing a catwalk in tracks to Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” at the Champions Park in Paris.

[Rugby Sevens wins over Olympic crowds and U.S. women’s team wants to build on bronze for L.A.]

She’s now been dubbed “everyone’s favorite Olympian on TikTok” and “one of the biggest stars of the Games” thanks to her aura of being “authentic, funny, sweet and it’s refreshing.” Even many who haven’t kept up with the sport before have seemingly become fully engaged thanks to Maher’s approach.

Gabriel Medina, Brazilian surfer

In the Middle Ages, the word “aura” was used to mean “gentle breeze.” On Monday, Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina embodied that definition.

In a moment captured perfectly by a waiting photographer, the 30-year-old, three-time World Surf League champion, appeared to be briefly levitating above the Pacific Ocean with tethered surfboard in tow - and single finger gesturing the No. 1.

The image was captured just after Medina had risen out of a Tahitian wave during the fifth heat of the men’s third surfing round. It was so captivating that it was described as “the picture of the Olympics” - and prompted some to speculate wrongly that it was photoshopped.

[Right place, right time: The story behind the viral surfing photo from the Paris Olympics]

Flying in the face of gravitational laws and biblical waves, Medina breezed into the quarterfinal showdown. For that, you need aura.

“Jesus walked on water so Medina could stand above it,” one person joked on Twitter.

Noah Lyles, Team USA sprinter

Noah Lyles is gunning for his first Olympic gold medal in Paris and is also a contender for the Olympian with the most main character energy - he calls himself “the fastest man in the world” and, for the Opening Ceremonies, the track titan painted the letters I-C-O-N on his fingernails.

The 27-year-old ended 2023 as the undisputed best sprinter in the world and enters the first post-covid Olympics as perhaps the United States’ biggest male Olympic star, The Post previously reported.

Even the official Olympics site has noted that Lyles “carries himself with a certain swagger.” At a news conference this week, asked about the world’s fastest man, he said: “It’s me. It’s always going to be me.”

“To be honest, when Noah Lyles is being Noah Lyles,” he said, referring to himself in the third person, “there’s nobody.”

Online fans have described him as having “insane” or “terrifying” aura.