Forget the Wheaties box, the hometown parade, “I’m going to Disney World.” The new reward for achieving athletic greatness is getting to meet Zac Efron.
Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman nabbed gold and silver, respectively, in their individual floor routines, capping off a massively successful Olympic Games for the two gymnasts and Team USA. But as they revealed in a gleefully giggly interview with NBC’s Bob Costas, it wasn’t winning additional medals that made the experience for them: It was getting to meet the superhunky and frequently shirtless star of Neighbors and the High School Musical franchise. “Is there anything to talk about concerning the competition, or do you guys just want to revel?” asked Costas midway through the interview. “No, we just can talk about Zac Efron,” replied Raisman. “I could talk about him for days,” added Biles. Sure, their medals represent a lifetime of struggle and hard work, but that smile, those eyes … fair enough, ladies.
As delightful as the idea that this transaction was as simple as “you won many medals, now Zac Efron will be flown in from wherever he is in the world to congratulate you, as is his patriotic duty,” there’s a bit more context to this story: Biles had previously spoken publicly about her crush on Efron, even copping to owning a life-size cutout of the actor (which is frankly an underrated interior decorating choice), and Efron in turn became a vocal supporter of the team on Twitter, so the Today Show decided to play fairy godmother. The other members of the team may not have expressed any stated preference for Efron, but being red-blooded humans of the female persuasion, they did not seem unhappy to meet him. Especially Laurie Hernandez, going for that first hug: Those are the kind of instincts it takes to become an Olympian at 16. (“Laurie hugged him first, you gonna kill her?” Raisman teased Biles.)
Their excitement is adorable to watch and a good reminder that, elite athleticism notwithstanding, these are normal young women who get starry-eyed around famous people. “She almost started crying, but she kept it together,” Raisman said playfully of Biles. Efron “said we could eat pizza with him too, so we’re gonna eat pizza with him. And french fries,” Raisman added. That right there is the American dream. A longer version of their meeting aired on the Today Show.
In the future, maybe when female athletes are going through especially grueling training sessions, they will envision not competing in red, white, and blue or standing on the podium as the national anthem plays but Zac’s beautiful face and warm embrace. Perhaps his duty of congratulating women on achieving great things will even transcend sports. When Sheryl Sandberg is promoted to CEO, when Jennifer Lawrence wins her next Oscar: Zac will be there. Be on standby in November, Zac, we might call on you to take selfies with the first woman elected president.