Astronauts Hold Their Own Olympics on Board Space Station

Orbital Games

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) sent well wishes to the athletes competing in the Paris Olympics by putting on their own, zero-gravity spin on the international games.

On Friday, NASA released a video of ISS astronauts performing a series of athletic spoofs, starting with a faux ceremonial passing of the Olympic torch. The crewmembers then performed a series of zero-gravity Olympic events, with the ISS’ lack of gravity assisting them as they attempted to take on sports generally made much harder by gravity: gymnastics favorites like the pommel horse and floor-style backflipping, track and field feats like the discus, shotput, and hurdles, as well as weightlifting, and more.

“Over the past few days on the International Space Station, we’ve had an absolute blast pretending to be Olympic athletes,” NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick told the camera to close out the video, faux-lympic torch in hand. “We, of course, have had the benefit of weightlessness,” he added, caveating the advantages of being gravity-free. “We can’t imagine how hard this must be to be such a world-class athlete, doing your sports under actual gravity.”

“So from all of us aboard the International Space Station,” Dominick continued, “to every single athlete in the Olympic Games, Godspeed.”

 

Ring Around

If we had to pick a favorite zero-G event, it would have to be the ISSers’ take on weightlifting, in which one crewmember squats a bar affixed with two other astronauts, as opposed to traditional rounded weights.

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will run through August 11. And while there are a dizzying number of events to watch from home, there’s unfortunately yet to be a spacefaring portion of the quadrennial athletic showdown. But who knows — maybe one day, humanity’s imagined Moon colonies will host. But until then, to all of the athletes, we’ll echo the ISS crew’s message: Godspeed!

More on ISS happenings: NASA Reportedly Considering Rescuing Stranded Astronauts Using SpaceX Spacecraft