#OnlyOnTwitter: The road to gold

Friday, 3 August 2012

We’ve been keeping an eye on the data to see which #Olympics moments have really inspired conversation on Twitter, and sharing that along the way. Yesterday, the peak of conversation came when Gabby Douglas earned herself the women’s all-around gymnastics gold medal, with 38,000 Tweets per minute related to the event. The Phelps-Lochte showdown was another huge moment, with 25,000 Tweets per minute about the end of their race.

What’s been so special about these Olympics is how often the athletes join the conversation themselves. We’ve seen Olympians engaging with their fans, cheering each other, and rueing a poor performance. But Tyler Clary (@TylerClary) did something unique— he didn’t just exchange a few Tweets, he narrated his own performance in the 200m backstroke. He took advantage of the tape delay for the US audience to send Tweets about what he was thinking in his big gold medal race just a few hours earlier.

It’s the unique perspective only an Olympian can provide, and Clary did, sharing his journey with thousands— narrating along with the race as they watched on TV.

The next morning Clary gave a shoutout to the musicians who kept him motivated and focused:

And like many Olympians who suddenly find that the world’s spotlight has shone their way, Clary’s idols talked back:

After Clary’s big night in the pool and on Twitter, his followers grew by 12x.

Posted by Andrew Fitzgerald, Manager, Editorial Programming (@magicandrew)