Paris 2024 Olympics: Dating App Location Changes to France

This year’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games will see singles pole vaulting their way into the Olympic Village — at least via dating apps.

This isn’t a new strategy for finding an athletic and attractive partner. Mashable’s Rachel Thompson wrote about Tinder users who did it for the 2018 Winter Olympics, and there are other TikTok videos about it from years ago. But here we go: It’s another Olympic year, and another chance to win literal or figurative gold.

Influencer Sofia Elizabeth shared a TikTok video about changing her dating app’s location to the Olympic Village — which is located north of Paris, in Saint-Denis, Saint Ouen, and L’Île-Saint-Denis. She later explained that she did it on Hinge because changing your location on the app is free (unlike Tinder and Bumble).

“Whoever said to change their location to the ‘Olympic Village’ currently in Paris to accommodate an Olympian, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said in the video, which has more than 16 million views as of the time it was posted. She did not respond to Mashable’s request for comment, and Hinge declined to comment.

While this is a tactic for singles watching the Olympics from home, some Olympians are actually using dating apps during the games. Team USA rower Emily Delleman posted a TikTok about her experience swiping on Tinder in the Olympic Village.

Mashable after dark

Delleman, who did not respond to Mashable’s request for comment, said in her video that she downloaded Tinder for the first time in years. She added that Tinder is “boosting” athlete matchmaking on the App Store — which it is:

Delleman made it clear on her profile that she was an Olympian, but unlike Elizabeth, she had no luck connecting with other athletes.

“So far, I think I’ve seen two other Olympians total,” Delleman said. Given that Tinder has been a flop, she said she’s been looking for “other forms of entertainment” — like TikTok.

Tinder told Mashable that in July, swipes increased by almost 20 percent in France, and Passport Mode (the paid location-changing feature) increased by 103 percent on sites like Paris. The United States, Brazil, and Turkey are the top countries of origin where daters use Passport Mode to change their location to France.

In Paris, Tinder says the number of users who described their job title as “Olympian” increased by 52 percent, while the number of people who described their job title as “athlete” increased by 43 percent.

The Olympic Village will accommodate 14,250 athletes during the Olympic Games and 8,000 during the Paralympic Games.

And if all goes well, Elizabeth said, you can fly to Paris to meet your significant other “and see their cardboard beds with your own eyes.”

Topics
Application and Software Olympics