Throughout history, the world has had different ways of recognising sporting legends. Sometimes statues have been made of them, sometimes huge stadiums have been named after them, but in the age of social media, a new kind of tribute has emerged.
US gymnast Simone Biles (a four-time Olympic champion) has become the first female athlete to get her own official Twitter emoji.
Given that she is widely regarded as the greatest of all time, it should come as no surprise that the emoji in question is a goat.
Yes, a goat wearing a leotard and a gold medal. This likeable emoji (which resembles the superstar’s personal emblem “Goldie the goat”) will appear every time a Twitter user posts the hashtags #SimoneBiles and #Simone throughout the Olympic Games, whose opening ceremony will take place on Friday.
“Witness greatness. Tweet with greatness,” said a message posted on the official Twitter Sports account, accompanied by a gif featuring the emoji.
A few months ago, Biles revealed in an interview with a US magazine that her symbolic goat was created as a response to her haters.
A while back, one critic joked that he would put a goat (a reference to the well-known acronym GOAT for “Greatest of All Time”) in her leotard, and that is exactly what she did.
