--- description: She won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, but her partnership with Parmigiano Reggiano is getting all the attention. title: Giorgia Villa’s Cheesiest Posts: Italian Gymnast Sponsored by Parmesan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ca811cff87aa3bb/698a5976929fadfa47bfcd32/Giorgia-Villa-Parmesan-Sponsorship-Cheese-Crop.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2024 Paris Olympics](/tag/2024-paris-olympics/) ## 2024 Paris Olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Cheesiest Posts by Olympian Giorgia Villa, the Italian Gymnast Sponsored by Parmesan by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Aug 1, 2024 5:30 AM CUT  Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa smiles, perhaps thinking about cheese, during the Paris Olympics women’s all-around artistic team final at the Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024. Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa smiles, perhaps thinking about cheese, during the Paris Olympics women’s all-around artistic team final at the Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024.Loic Venance—AFP/Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Aug 1, 2024 5:30 AM CUT There are a lot of things you can call Giorgia Villa: Italian gymnast, newly minted Olympic silver medalist, and probably the world’s most famous cheese ambassador. Together with her five teammates in Paris on Tuesday, the 21-year-old secured Italy’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics in nearly a century during the women’s all-around artistic final, [which Team USA won](https://time.com/7005665/usa-womens-gymnastics-team-gold-olympics-paris/ "undefined"). But beyond her athletic accomplishment, it’s her unusual sponsorship deal that the internet is [gushing](https://x.com/slothanova/status/1818681698667667720 "undefined") [over](https://x.com/womenpostingws/status/1818699502301450603 "undefined"). Villa began working with Parmigiano Reggiano—the official consortium of [authentic](https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/11/19/the-dark-side-of-parmesan-cheese-what-you-dont-know-might-hurt-you/ "undefined") parmesan cheese producers—in 2021, according to an [announcement](https://impresaesport.it/en/giorgia-villa-new-ambassador-of-parmigiano-reggiano/ "undefined") by Italian marketing agency Impresa e Sport, which hailed the partnership as “confirming how the combination of Parmigiano Reggiano and the world of sport is indissoluble in terms of authenticity, quality and energetic value, both in sporting activity and in correct nutrition.” Parmigiano Reggiano says parmesan is “[suitable for a sports diet](https://www.instagram.com/p/CWp7KuYjVzb/ "undefined"),” and Villa is not the only Italian athlete it has sponsored—others include tennis player [Jannik Sinner](https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXJa1zg1Ch/ "undefined"), fencer [Matteo Neri](https://www.facebook.com/MatteoNeriTokyo2020/posts/2780456972099635 "undefined"), basketballer [Nico Mannion](https://parmigianoreggiano.us/nico-mannion-joins-the-parmigiano-reggiano-team-blog/ "undefined"), and paralympic swimmer [Giulia Ghiretti](https://www.instagram.com/p/CmWXe4aNPBv/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== "undefined"). (Health experts agree that the hard cheese is “[highly nutritious](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/parmesan-cheese-nutrition-benefits-uses "undefined"),” being protein-rich, energy-dense, and naturally lactose-free.) **Read More:** [_What Olympic Athletes Eat to Have All That Energy_](https://time.com/6997596/what-olympic-athletes-eat-for-energy/ "undefined") Villa, for her part, clearly dedicated herself to the (cheese) grind—or, should we say rind? Across at least 20 posts on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/giorgiavilla23/ "undefined")/[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057755392499 "undefined") and [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@giorgiavilla%5F23 "undefined") between April 2021 and December 2022, she’s posted sponsored content showing off [wheels](https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ-88FKD-Pw/ "undefined"), [blocks](https://www.instagram.com/p/CZMVuASK21y/ "undefined"), and [bite-sized packets](https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJR-UbjTdz/ "undefined") of parmesan. From posing in her leotard with her “best friend”: To touting her love for it during the holidays: “One of my favorite parts of the day is hands down snack time!” she wrote in an Instagram post of her carving into a big chunk of cheese. She’s shared snaps of her snacking on a park bench and in a library: And she even participated in TikTok trends to emphasize her passion for parmesan: “I’m very happy to be a part of the great @parmigianoreggiano family,” Villa wrote in a [post](https://www.instagram.com/p/CNKoDvtDCmC/?igsh=MWh5aGhhMHFjdDZvMg== "undefined") in April 2021 while announcing the partnership. “Since I was a child I’ve always loved this amazing product, a symbol of excellence and Italian culture.” While it’s unclear if she’s still under contract with Big Cheese, two things are for certain: Villa has joined the ranks of the [biggest](https://time.com/7005192/stephen-nedoroscik-usa-gymnastics-pommel-horse-guy-olympics-memes-medalist/ "undefined") [social](https://time.com/7005693/brazil-gymnast-flavia-saraiva-black-eye-olympics/ "undefined") [media](https://time.com/7005804/simone-biles-team-usa-celebration-instagram-caption-mykayla-skinner/ "undefined") [stars](https://time.com/7005738/south-korea-pistol-shooter-kim-yeji-main-character-memes/ "undefined") to come out of the Paris Olympics, and with her silver medal, she too is now an icon of Italian excellence. ### More From TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/"},"headline":"The Cheesiest Posts by Olympian Giorgia Villa, the Italian Gymnast Sponsored by Parmesan","datePublished":"2024-08-01T05:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T18:03:50.381Z","description":"She won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, but her partnership with Parmigiano Reggiano is getting all the attention.","url":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/","keywords":["2024 Paris Olympics","overnight","News Desk","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ca811cff87aa3bb/698a5976929fadfa47bfcd32/Giorgia-Villa-Parmesan-Sponsorship-Cheese-Crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ca811cff87aa3bb/698a5976929fadfa47bfcd32/Giorgia-Villa-Parmesan-Sponsorship-Cheese-Crop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Giorgia Villa Parmesan Sponsorship Cheese Crop","caption":"Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa smiles, perhaps thinking about cheese, during the Paris Olympics women’s all-around artistic team final at the Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024.","creditText":"Loic Venance—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-paris-olympics/","name":"2024 Paris Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/","name":"The Cheesiest Posts by Olympian Giorgia Villa, the Italian Gymnast Sponsored by Parmesan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Train Like an Olympian","description":"TIME's senior sports correspondent Sean Gregory tries his hand at several Olympic sports while learning from Olympians.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BFkQPIwv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-25T15:16:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BFkQPIwv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/","duration":"PT8M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/7006315/giorgia-villa-parmesan-cheese-sponsorship-italy-gymnast-olympics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```