Apparently, those viral Olympic Village chocolate muffins are overrated

Consider our hearts broken

Henrik Christiansen chocolate muffins
(Image credit: Courtesy of Henrik Christiansen / TikTok)

The Olympics have been incredibly eventful so far, but one story we particularly love? The unexpected obsession with some special chocolate muffins found in the Olympic Village.

The muffins in question became a star of the 2024 Paris Olympics when Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen began posting about his undying love for the treats on his TikTok account starting on 25 July.

His videos became increasingly more hilarious, and he soon found a dedicated fanbase online who were obsessed with both Henrik's undying love for chocolatey baked goods, and his pitch perfect sense of humour.

@henrikchristians1

♬ original sound - I think you should leave shop

But while Henrik's videos make these muffins seem like the most delectable dessert around, his fellow Olympic athletes don't sound quite as impressed as all that.

@henrikchristians1

♬ sonido original - 🐧

People took one for the team (all of us) and asked some US athletes about their thoughts on the viral muffins.

"I know Henrik has blown them out of proportion," said American swimmer Ryan Held. "Like, astronomical popularity."

Team USA fencer Jackie Dubrovich was equally indifferent, telling People, "I think it's a good muffin. I'm not like mind blown like...it's fine."

Meanwhile, American rower Liam Corrigan pointed out that the muffins are maybe not the most healthful choice for an Olympic athlete's breakfast.

"So my experience the first day was I saw the muffins. It was breakfast, I was like, 'Oh, a muffin. It's not the healthiest but it's not so bad,'" Liam explained. "And then I opened it up and it's more of a molten lava cake-slash-muffin. And at that point I felt a little bad, like, 'I probably shouldn't be eating this before the race.' So stayed off the muffins."

Frankly, all this muffin hate has likely come as good news for Henrik, who was able to enjoy a near-endless supply while he stayed in Paris. But he's not the only one who actually did love the cakes, with Team USA swimmer Erin Gemmell telling People: "I had one. It was pretty good, I will say. So whatever they have in the middle could, like, change lives."

FYI, the muffins are "filled and topped with dark chocolate and feature chunks of dark chocolate and milk chocolate," People reports. Wow.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.