One Piece Finally Made a Cameo at 2021 Olympics

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Olympics are underway in Japan, and athletes have begun their journey to win a gold medal. With hundreds gathered to compete, fans at home have been eagerly watching the games to see how Japan would tie pop culture into the event. As it turns out, plenty of anime OSTs have been used in the games, and One Piece finally got a cameo thanks to... Greece?

Yes, you did read that right. One Piece might be the most well-known manga in Japan, but none of its athletes have given a shout-out to Luffy. That honor resided with a Greecian Olympian who took to the games after doing a Luffy pose for the world to see.

Greek Olympic athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou performed the Gear Second pose during the Olympics as a nod to One Piece and later went on to achieve record speed to win the gold medal in the Long Jump competition pic.twitter.com/HHK3cvaYeo

— Artur - Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) August 3, 2021

The moment came from Miltiadis Tentoglou, a gifted track athlete who came to Tokyo with the Greece team. It was there the athlete walked out to an event after being called by an announcer, and he took time to pose just like Luffy did when unlocking Gear Second for the first time.

As you can see above, the pose is easy to make out if you have watched One Piece, but it could be seen as something different. That is what hosts said during the event, but Tentoglou was quick to correct them. The athlete told the press he was paying homage to the future King of the Pirates. "It's from One Piece, Luffy's Gear Second," Tentoglou explained.

Clearly, the tribute gave Tentoglou some good luck because he went on to destroy his events. During the Long Jump competition, the Greecian star won the gold medal after achieving record speed in his run-up. Tentoglou is definitely fit to join the Straw Hats if One Piece ever has an opening. All the athlete needs is a Devil Fruit and straw hat then he'd be good to go!

What do you think about this special One Piece nod? Which shonen hero would you shout out on the world stage? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.