What Is 'BME Pain Olympics' And Why Should You Not Google It? The Classic Shock Media Explained

When you hear the words "pain olympics," you should automatically be concerned because it is exactly what it sounds like — people getting hurt and competing with each other for the worst possible attempts.

This isn't your everyday America's Funniest Videos or "just a prank" levels of harm, but real, actual, not-made-for-TV levels of damage.

While it's commonly known as a shock video, it was actually an entire competition hosted by the Body Modification Ezine, with several smaller videos featured all over the website dedicated to the competition.

If you don't feel like digging through old archives and scarring yourself, just keep on reading to get more than your fill of info as we explain the infamous BME Pain Olympics.

What Is BME Pain Olympics?

The BME Pain Olympics was a contest to determine which contestant had the highest pain tolerance, which back in the day of 2003 was all the rage thanks to the Jackass TV show being shown on MTV around the time.

The BME Pain Olympics became a series of videos during the 2000s in which different contestants were challenged to do activities damaging to their health, like drinking hot sauce and many other painful dares — until it took a rather dark turn in 2007.

What Was The Final Round Video?

"BME Pain Olympics: Final Round" was a viral video that came out and spread across the internet in 2007 for its immensely graphic content and gore.

In the video, which was meant to be the deciding round between two contestants, the challenge centered around two men mutilating their "lower appendages" via a large meat cleaver as the camera zoomed in on the blood and reactions of the contestants.

Despite this not actually being part of the official BME Pain Olympics contest, the naming of the video caused it to become the dominating thing associated with BME Pain Olympics, shifting the perception of the entire brand to this day.

Who Made BME Pain Olympics?

The BME Pain Olympics were made by the Canadian online magazine Body Modification Ezine, created by Shannon Larratt. The event started in 2003, taking place in Ontario, Canada.

Was BME Pain Olympics Fake?

The viral shock video from 2007 has a disclaimer claiming that it was fake, but many of the other videos do not have the same disclaimer on them, calling their authenticity into question. To this day, people still believe it is authentic, however (at least upon an initial watch), which continually causes more reaction videos to appear across social media as it sees periodic resurgences.

For the full details on the BME Pain Olympics meme, be sure to check out our entry on the meme in Know Your Meme's encyclopedia for even more information.