Dragon Ball: Italian Olympians Celebrate Medal with Ginyu Homage

The Olympics are coming to an end in Tokyo these days, and that means the event’s last medals are going live. For some athletes, they are choosing to celebrate their wins with friends and podium cheers. But for one Italian team, they decided the best way to celebrate their recent gold was with the Ginyu Force.

The whole thing came to light when Team Italy made a post on Instagram following a major win. It was there fans saw the victors of the men’s Team Pursuit strike a pose, and it was taken straight from Dragon Ball Z.

“Yes, we know they are evil, but the Ginyu Force never missed,” the photo is captioned. And as you can see above, each cyclist is nailing their respective pose. Even Goku would be proud of this kind of coordinated effort.

For those unaware of this event, the Olympic set asks a team of cyclist to race on each others tail. Great Britain has been the reigning champion for years, but a crash did disqualify the group from medaling at this year’s event. Team Italy was then pitted against Denmark for the top medal, and Italy snatched the win thanks to Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan.

“It’s a great honour for us. Our group has worked very hard to achieve at the highest level and starting in 2016 we were really motivated by our coach,” cyclist Francesco Lamon told press after nabbing the win. “We are really proud of what we’ve achieved and our group.”

This team’s placement marks the first time Italy has gotten gold in the event in 61 years. Obviously, this was worth celebrating, and the team itself felt inspired to mimic the Ginyu Force in their post-race photo. So as you can imagine, fans are demanding the team re-do their race back at home in full Dragon Ball cosplay.

What do you think of this team’s Dragon Ball homage? Which anime tribute at the Olympics ranks as your favorite? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.