Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa was a Muenster at the 2024 Paris Olympics, helping her team win the silver medal in Tuesday's all-around final. But social media seems to be more intrigued by the sponsorship deal she has with cheese.
"I need the people to know that olympic silver medalist giorgia villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and regularly posts pics of herself with giant wheels of cheese," a user wrote Wednesday on X.
"I have a new hero and it’s Giorgia Villa from Team Italy who is literally sponsored by CHEESE," another posted.
Villa, 21, announced her partnership with Parmigiano-Reggiano back in April 2021, posing in a black gymnastics leotard next to a giant wheel of cheese.
"I am very happy to be part of the great @parmigianoreggiano family," she wrote in a translated post on Instagram. "Since I was a child I’ve always loved this amazing product, a symbol of excellence and Italian culture, and since today being able to collaborate with them makes me extremely proud and excited to face future challenges!"
The image began resurfacing this week after Villa's Olympic win.
"Finally a sponsorship I can fully get behind," a user wrote on X. "Also, how great would it be if she was introduced as 'And now, Giorgia Villa, brought to you by cheese' before she went out to do her thing?"
"dunno how much the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium has been paying Giorgia Villa since this deal was arranged in 2021 but they’re certainly getting their money’s worth this week," another posted.
One user seemed in awe of Villa's cheesy photo shoot.
"I love everything about this!!! And I’m impressed that Giorgia Villa is so strong she can hold a full wheel of parmigiano in her arms — unless they are fake 'forme' for the photoshoot? Or she is just really super strong, considering that she is a champion of the uneven bars," the user wrote on X.
Villa's Instagram account is sprinkled with several images from 2021 of her posing with cheese. It's not clear whether she is still in partnership with Parmigiano-Reggiano. In one post, she said she liked to enjoy it as a snack "to recover my energy and prepare for the new workout."
In another, she wrapped her arms around a giant block of cheese. "Always together with my best friend," she captioned the photo, adding, "ready to start again and face new challenges!"
