Why Was McKayla Maroney ‘Unimpressed’ By The 2012 London Olympics? The ‘McKayla Is Unimpressed’ Meme Explained

American gymnast McKayla Maroney performed brilliantly at the 2012 London Olympics, but online she is best known for her memorable facial expression after winning a silver medal. She became a social media sensation with the meme ‘McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed’.

Maroney’s name and meme suddenly resurfaced on the Internet after an unfortunate mix-up found her embroiled in a feud between a gymnast once unimpressed with Team USA and gold medalist Simone Biles.

If you’re curious about why McKayla was unimpressed during the 2012 London Olympics and how internet users misunderstood her name and meme during an online spat, then this article is for you!

Why Was McKayla Maroney ‘Unimpressed’ By The 2012 London Olympics?

McKayla Maroney jumped amazingly and nearly flawlessly during the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, leading many to believe she would win the gold medal for the competition, including herself. However, after achieving a total score of 15.083, Maroney ended up winning the silver medal in the competition.

While standing on the podium, Bryan Snyder of the international news agency Reuters took a photo of Maroney frowning. A few days later, a blog called McKayla is Not Impressed was launched on Tumblr, which focused on one topic. It showed photoshopped images of Maroney’s gaze against historical or spectacular backgrounds.

Marroney commented on her facial expression-turned-meme during a June 2014 interview for Inside Gymnastics Magazine, saying, “I remember making the face for literally two seconds. And I remember thinking, did I just make a face? Because it’s natural. I do it all the time.”

How Did ‘McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed’ Become a Meme?

The American gymnast’s facial expression was quickly the subject of Photoshop edits and online parodies, receiving an image macro template two days after the photo went viral. BuzzFeed collected a series of AP and Reuters photos from the Women’s Vault Final event in an article titled “McKayla Maroney Falls, Lets Out Her Inner ‘Mean Girl’.”

Was McKayla Maroney ‘unimpressed’ by Team USA’s gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

McKayla Maroney’s name was mentioned at the center of an online feud after “MyKayla Skinner”, another American gymnast, decided to criticize the U.S. Gymnastics team. In a since-deleted YouTube video from June 2024, she said, “I feel like besides Simone, the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be… A lot of the girls don’t work as hard anymore. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”

Some internet users confused “McKayla’s” name with “MyKayla” and Maroney’s meme suddenly resurfaced on X, making it much harder to figure out who’s who. E! News uploaded a video explaining the whole drama, which ended with Skinner apologizing and then blocking Simone Biles from social media. (See below)

For the full history of McKayla Maroney is not impressedFor more information, see Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia page.