THE “Italian Eminem” has been spotted competing in the men’s team archery at the Olympics in Paris.
And fans demanded a DNA test for Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Mauro Nespoli… and we hope his palms aren’t sweaty.
The archer stepped up to the mark sporting a close-fitting blue t-shirt, a white sun hat, and a beard with a staunch glare.
But it was perhaps his frown of concentration and his choice of facial hair which led viewers to make the comparison to the iconic US rapper.
There’s definitely some resemblance there, though it seems to be more dependant on the uncannily similar beard shapes.
And it seems that the observation has reached Nespoli, who shared an Instagram post where his and Eminem‘s faces had been swapped.
And people took to social media with their observations about the resemblance.
One X user wrote: “Italian Eminem about to lose himself in some archery.”
Referencing the lyrics of Eminem’s iconic single ‘Lose Yourself’, someone else joked: “Italian Eminem eating mom’s spaghetti it all makes sense now!”
A second posted: “If you have one shot or one opportunity”, while another said: “Yoooo it’s Marcello Mathers.”
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WHAT TO WATCH TODAY...
TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Water takes centre stage on Day 6 as Joe Clarke eyes canoe slalom kayak gold (4.30pm).
In the rowing, the women’s four should claim gold while the men’s four and women’s double sculls will know they can get on the podium, too (10.15am).
And after our men won the 4x200m freestyle relay, the women could add a medal in the pool tonight (8.48pm).
BRITS TO WATCH
Defending champ Beth Shriever and Tokyo silver medallist Kye Whyte begin their BMX racing event at the quarter-finals (from 7pm).
Bryony Pitman (9am), Penny Healey (4.14pm) and Alex Wise (5.05pm) are all in archery action.
Andy Murray’s swansong with Dan Evans continues – they face Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals (3.30pm).
And the golf starts today, meaning Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick will tee off for GB, with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry flying the flag for Ireland (from 8am).
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
World No1 Scottie Scheffler leads an all-star USA golf team, though, alongside Open champ Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.
French Open champ Iga Swiatek is the heavy favourite for the women’s tennis singles gold ahead of her semi-final before Carlos Alcaraz then Novak Djokovic go in the men’s quarters (from 11am).
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
Volleyball is an ever-present throughout the Olympics, running from Day 1 all the way to Day 16, all of it in the catchy-named South Paris Arena 1.
Tokyo runners-up Brazil face Japan (12pm) and hosts France vs China (8pm) in the pick of the clashes.
STATS MAD
3:50 – Who doesn’t love a competitive brisk walk?
The athletics officially begins with the men’s and women’s 20km race walks today (6.30am and 8.20am).
The world record is a staggering 1:16.36 – that’s an average of 3m50s per km while WALKING.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.
A third pointed out: “We have not seen the US Eminem and The Italian Eminem together in the same room.”
While another said: “Will the real slim shady please stand up.”
Nespoli was competing in the men’s team archery quarter-final on Monday, when Italy was defeated 6-2 by France.
He is ranked fifth in the world in men’s recurve archery and is a three-time Olympic medallist.
After making his international debut in 2002, he took the team silver medal at Beijing in 2008, team gold at London in 2012, and an individual silver at Tokyo in 2020.
