Olympic swimming sensation Caeleb Dressel has been seen taking a break between races to unwind by indulging one of his hobbies, playing Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on his phone. Although he has won nine-time Olympic gold medals, the 27-year-old still finds time for fun activities. Dressel’s session was even caught on camera with a viewer seeing him watching Smash in an ice bath on NBC during the 2024 Paris Olympics broadcast.
Justinbyleth, a Twitter user, observed him getting into the game and wrote, “Watching the Olympics with my mom and CAELEB DRESSEL IS WATCHING YEET SMASH IN THE ICE BATH BETWEEN RACES LMAOOOO”. Dressel can be seen intently watching a clip that appears to show tournament footage. In the footage, he is seen skipping through logos and loading screens to get straight into the fight, while he uses his downtime in between races.
In an interview with People in 2019, Dressel said, “We play a lot of Nintendo games, a lot of Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., a few different card games, really just stuff so we can stay loose and get your mind off of swimming before going into the meet with full focus.” Other Olympians have also been seen showing off their hobbies and interests during the Olympics, such as by performing moves based on anime or video game characters, and a breakdancer did hand moves seen in K-pop song ‘Magnetic’, by Illit.
Playing games where you compete in races and fights just before competing in similar categories in real life is how these athletes relax before exciting matches. According to Super Smash Bros. creator Sakurai, all the fighters in the game have a roughly 50% chance of winning, with just 4.25% difference between the best and worst. This relaxed attitude has certainly been favorable for some Olympians, such as Dressel, although some might find it strange, but the results speak for themselves
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