Ariarne Titmus’ coach Dean Boxall on her winning gold

This video features in a responsive display in the museum that presents the moments, stories and memes capturing the zeitgeist by going viral on the internet.

Australians were in a frenzy of excitement when Ariarne Titmus won gold in the women’s 400m freestyle in her Olympic debut in Tokyo. After dethroning defending champion Katie Ledecky, Titmus revealed the years of dedication it took to win, telling Sunrise: “Physically, it’s a lot of training. On the days that I’m at the pool twice a day I could be there up to seven or eight hours and Dean is there a lot longer.”

Knowing her journey full well, no one else was more ecstatic than her coach, Dean Boxell, whose enthusiastic celebration was thrust into the limelight across social media.

Boxell was captured enthusiastically dancing, punching the air, screaming in joy, and yes, air-humping the glass barrier in celebration. His vigorous outpouring almost immediately went viral, spreading across local news, Twitter and Instagram after countless Olympic viewers filmed their TV screens and shared it online. Many were right there with him, finding his gut reaction honest, endearing and typically Australian.

But others found the display over the top and offensive, leading to a backlash from some Twitter users, especially Americans. Was this something that only Australian audiences could understand? Or was this an example of inflated male privilege? Titmus certainly didn’t mind at all and was thrilled to share the moment with her fervently loyal coach, who was inspired by his favourite wrestler from childhood, Ultimate Warrior.

“He is my favourite. I used to wrestle with my brother … I loved the Ultimate Warrior,” he has said.