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McKayla Maroney is Impressed With Michael Phelps' Trending Olympics Photo

by YuGee / Aug 12, 2016 06:29 AM EDT
Maroney in 2012 London Olympics

Olympics gymnast McKayla Maroney is finally impressed because another athlete from the United States, swimmer Michael Phelps, is the new "King of the Olympic Memes."

Maroney was part of the "Fierce Five", the artistic gymnastics team that won the second team gold medal for the United States in the women's team competition at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. She also won the silver on vault. After their stint at the Olympics, Maroney, together with the other members of the "Fierce Five", had many television appearances and visited the White House.

However, she became more well-known because of her infamous viral photo that spread on the Internet during the 2012 games. 

At the time, she was considered the greatest vaulter, but it was a total shock, to herself and to the world, when she fell on her rear on her second vault. She took the silver medal while Sandra Izbasa of Romania grabbed the gold. During the medal ceremony, Maroney was pictured making a face showing that she was not happy about falling to the second place and watching someone else receive the much-coveted gold medal.

And this was when the "McKayla Maroney is not impressed" meme started going viral. Her picture even had a Tumblr page featuring the memes of her smirking face.

She is not competing in this year's Rio Olympics due to injuries, but she is relieved that someone has taken her throne as the meme champion of the Olympics, and it is none other than American swimmer Michael Phelps.

In an interview with TMZ about Phelps' now-trending scowl, Maroney said, "Somebody tweeted like, 'McKayla, looks like somebody took your spot' and I looked at his pictures and was like, 'YES! Go, Michael, take it away, please!'"

While preparing for a semi-final race in swimming, Phelps crossed paths with his rival Chad le Clos of South Africa. le Clos defeated him by five hundredths of a second at the 2012 London Olympics during the 200-meter butterfly race. In the live telecast, cameras caught Phelps glaring at le Clos with a sharp gaze, instantly ending Maroney's reign as the "Queen of Olympic Memes."

Maroney further added, "I now see why people thought (the memes were) so funny."

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