Among the fans of One Piece are not only kindergarten teachers, office workers, and doctors but also athletes. Many top athletes who have even participated in the Olympic Games have been inspired by Luffy and his friends. They motivate themselves before and after competitions with poses from the anime.
The anime for One Piece has been on everyone’s lips for weeks. Luffy has finally awakened his Gear 5, and thanks to the Netflix series, the franchise has gained some new fans. However, even before these events, One Piece was highly regarded by many athletes.
In the following list, we present five different poses that athletes have used for motivation before their upcoming competitions or as victory poses.
Olympic athlete imitates Franky’s super pose
The cyborg Franky is known for using the word “super” very often. When the Straw Hat Crew meets Franky, he introduces himself to them lightly dressed in this pose, where he clasps his arms together to create a star shape with the drawing on his arms.
This pose has been used by Payton Otterdahl to motivate himself during the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo. He is an athlete specializing in shot put and likely has arms as thick as Franky’s.
Unfortunately, Otterdahl could only manage a 10th place with the pose. You can see his super pose in the following video on YouTube:
Luffy’s Gear 2 appears at the Olympic Games
At the same Olympic Games, there was another athlete who identified himself as a fan of One Piece. Miltiadis Tentoglou specializes in long jump and triple jump and even won a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
When the Greek came out for his introduction, he clenched his fist and placed it on the ground, bending slightly at the knees. As he revealed in a later interview, this was a reference to Luffy’s Gear 2.
The video shows both the interview and Tentoglou’s pose:
This is a technique Luffy uses to perform pump movements to increase his blood pressure. This vastly increases his speed and strength. Apparently, the pose also worked for the Olympic champion, giving him strength in his legs.
Gear 3 also makes an appearance
The Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo were apparently full of athletes who love One Piece. There is indeed a third athlete who has made headlines with his victory pose.
The Italian walker Massimo Stano also won a gold medal, like Tentoglou. However, just before crossing the finish line, he shows not Luffy’s Gear 2 but rather his more pronounced Gear 3.
The following video shows what that looks like on YouTube:
It looks like Stano is about to bite his finger. Luffy uses the same technique to inflate the bones in his hand, creating a gigantic fist. Luffy’s attacks become slightly slower due to the technique, but it seems to have made Stano faster.
His victory pose caused such a stir that even the team from One Piece thanked him on Instagram, as seen in the video.
Gear 5 comes from no stranger
The Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou did not miss the opportunity to use another pose from Luffy at a different competition. In August of this year, he won the gold medal at the World Championships in Budapest. Does his success have anything to do with One Piece?
This time, Tentoglou took it a step further and showed Luffy’s Gear 5. When Luffy awakens this ability, he starts to laugh while holding his belly and face. Right at the beginning of the video from WonderIandian, which we have linked here, you can see how the athlete imitates the pose.
With Gear 5, Luffy has reached the highest level of his power. This ability defies the laws of physics. Luffy can change his body size at will and turn his environment into rubber. This allows him, for example, to catch lightning or use it as a pole for dodging.
German football player is also a fan of One Piece
One Piece has also become a trend among athletes in Germany. BVB professional Julian Brandt imitated a pose during a football match, this time not from Luffy but from his rival Trafalgar Law.
Law has the ability to create a space that he can control at will. To do this, he must create a dome by spreading his hand and leaning towards the ground. With his other hand, he can swap places, which Julian Brandt would have liked to do with the football and the goalkeeper.
His shot led to a 2:0 victory for his team. A fan took the effort to create a video in which Julian Brandt is animated as Law:
Brandt’s love for One Piece has not gone unnoticed. He has now even been allowed to visit the dubbing studios in Germany responsible for the anime’s synchronization. Brandt will have a small role in the anime and voice a character (via YouTube).
In addition to the examples mentioned, there are several other athletes who are big fans of the anime and have been inspired by One Piece for their poses. The fact that some of the poses were seen during the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo could be due to the anime’s origins in Japan.
One Piece has made guest appearances not only in the world of athletes but also in other anime and animated series:
5 anime and series in which One Piece has been incorporated as an Easter egg
