Olympic gymnast Casimir Schmidt has a Mew tattoo — but that’s not his favorite Pokémon

polygon.com:

You can’t see Dutch gymnast Casimir Schmidt’s tattoos when he’s spinning furiously on the Pommel horse or flying through his tumbling passes in floor events. It’s only when he stops flipping that you may notice two specific tattoos on his arm: Mythic Pokémon Mew and Mushroom Kingdom (and TikTok) icon Toad.

The world noticed Schmidt’s tattoos during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where Schmidt competed both individually and as part of the Dutch national team. Naturally, you’d think having a Mew tattoo would mean it’s Schmidt’s favorite Pokémon — but you’d be wrong. Schmidt told Polygon that his favorite Pokémon is actually Charmeleon, which evolves from Charmander and evolves into Charizard. He doesn’t have a Charmeleon tattoo just yet, but it’s on the docket.

This gymnast has a tattoo of Toad on his arm and therefore I want him to win all the medals pic.twitter.com/Yh8LNAChka

Calling in from Paris, Schmidt spoke to Polygon about his tattoos, favorite Pokémon, and gaming at the Olympics.

[Ed. note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

Polygon: How have the Olympics been? Are you still in Paris?

Casimir Schmidt: Yeah, I still am in Paris. I’m training right now, because one of my teammates still has a final. I’m accompanying him, and it’s been a blast. Of course, there was stuff that we hoped went better, but it’s been successful. I’m really happy.

I [and lots of other people] saw you had Toad and Mew on your arm. Do you have any other gaming tattoos ?

I don’t, actually. I’m just checking my arm now. I have no clue for some of the things. But no, I don’t. I think it’s just because I’m not a big gamer. But on the other hand, I did play all the Nintendo games when I was younger, especially Mario Kart. That’s probably why. And a lot of Pokémon.

I also have a lot of tattoos and can relate. Isn’t it funny how easy it is to forget what you have? I’m going to ask you a question I hate to be asked, which is: Do the Mew and Toad tattoos have any special