Google Trends reported a 2,100% spike in searches for “circles on Michael Phelps” on Sunday. Michael Phelps’s first gold medal of the Rio Olympics was momentarily overshadowed by widespread interest the large purple circles across his back and shoulders. The modern form of the therapy, and the one that Phelps has been photographed receiving, uses cups attached to suction pumps. Related: Does ‘cupping’ do Olympian athletes any good – and does it matter if it doesn’t? For a short time that phrase was being searched for more than the term “Olympic medals”, while speculation was also rife on Twitter.

Source: The Guardian August 08, 2016 16:57 UTC