Today on Twitter

Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Another day, another gold medal for @TeamGB. Alistair Brownlee (@AliBrownleeTri) won the men’s triathlon with brother Jonny (@Jonny_Brownlee) taking bronze. We love this photo of their proud parents:

In fact, the achievement prompted one journalist to point out that one family was leading quite a few other nations in the medals table.

Former England cricket captain Alec Stewart (@StewieCricket) was impressed, pointing out this nugget of information to his followers:.

And F1 star Jenson Button (@JensonButton), a keen triathlete himself, was quick to tweet his congratulations to the brothers:

More athletes are on Twitter during these Games than ever before, giving fans a front row seat to the action. And if you’re happy just being a spectator, remember that you don’t have to tweet to enjoy Twitter. Just follow people or organisations that you find interesting, sit back, and enjoy.

One of the best things about Twitter is watching the conversation unfold between two high-profile figures, and we saw a great example of this today:

Overnight, Usain Bolt (@usainbolt) gave an interview where he said he wanted a trial at Manchester United and this morning the Man Utd star Rio Ferdinand (@RioFerdy5) tweeted him to say that he could arrange it:

@usainbolt replied to say they should work on it after the Olympics, although we aren’t holding our breath:

Twitter has also been unearthing high-jinks in the Olympic Village, such as this chat between @usainbolt and fellow 100m runner Asafa Powell (@officialasafa):

It might not just be athletes you decide to follow. @andy_murray’s pet dog @maggiemay_hem has her own Twitter account, where she posted this shot of her and Rusty modelling Murray’s medals:

While @usainbolt continued to steal the headlines (and arguably the fruit from his team-mates’ rooms), @TeamGB eyes have now moved back to the Olympic Park and the Velodrome. If you’re watching this evening remember to cheer for Laura Trott (@LauraTrott31), Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) and Victoria Pendleton (@V_Pendleton), and if they do well, be sure to watch out for tweets from their team-mates, with all of the top cyclists active on Twitter.

When it comes to tomorrow, here’s our top suggestions for people to follow to stay on top of the action:

  • Women’s 10m platform diving: Stacie Powell (@powellstacie)
  • Women’s boxing flyweight semifinal: Nicola Adams (@NicolaAdams2012)
  • Men’s light welterweight boxing: Thomas Stalker (@ThomasStalker1)
  • Women’s 470 sailing: Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills (@470Girls)