Dean Boxall‘s 15 minutes of fame started with a 16-second clip.
After Ariarne Titmus‘s thrilling upset over Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle final, NBC cameras cut over to the Australian coach, who was celebrating his pupil winning the gold medal with, uh, enthusiastic energy.
Boxall ripped off his mask, punched the air, jumped up and down and thrust his groin a few times, just for good measure. The best part of the video arguably was the Olympics official in the background who had a worried look on her face, trying to contain Boxall.
The cameras showed Boxall‘s celebration for a full 16 seconds. But that was enough for him to become a viral sensation:
Boxall had reason to be excited. Titmus surpassed Ledecky around the 300-meter mark, handing the American her first Olympic loss in a final.
What’s even more remarkable is that Ledecky swam her second-fastest time in the event, and Titmus still prevailed.
According to The Washington Post, Boxall told reporters that he “went outside his body” to celebrate.
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