10 facts about #Glasgow2014

The XX Commonwealth Games drew to a close on Sunday evening following 12 days of competition, along with spectacular opening and closing ceremonies.

71 different nations and territories competed in 17 different sports, with the world’s eyes firmly on Scotland as they hosted their largest ever multi-sport event. And as the sporting action took place in Glasgow, it also played around the world on Twitter, with more than 3.3 million Tweets on the platform.

Here’s our roundup of 10 ways #Glasgow2014 unfolded on Twitter:

1. Total Tweets

There were more than 3.3 million Tweets about the #Glasgow2014 Commonwealth Games.

2. Opening ceremony drives conversation

The opening ceremony of #Glasgow2014 was the event that drove the most conversation on Twitter. The three biggest moments were:

1. Susan Boyle (@SusanBoyleHQ) performs ‘Mull of Kintyre’
2. ‘God Save The Queen’ is sung
3. Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) performs ‘Rhythm of my Heart’

3. The Bolt factor

Usain Bolt (@usainbolt) was the most-discussed athlete of the Games with more than 140,000 mentions.

Bolt also created the most-discussed sporting moment of #Glasgow2014 as he anchored Jamaica to a gold medal in the 4x100m relay.

The Jamaican used Twitter throughout the Games as a direct line into his fans, taking them behind the scenes and allowing them to feel part of those unique sporting moments:

4. Royal photobombing was the hottest new craze

As #Glasgow2014 played out in the stadium, members of the British Royal Family made several surprise appearances on Twitter.

It began as Australian hockey player Jayde Taylor (@_JaydeTaylor) had her selfie photobombed by HM Queen Elizabeth II. With almost 15,000 Retweets it was the most retweeted message of the Games.

This was just the beginning though, as Princes William, Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge continued the trend:

5. Athletes’ Twitter followers soared

Athletes’ Twitter followers increased as they competed on a the international stage. All five of the athletes that saw the greatest percentage rise in followers were British:

• Reece Mcfadden (@reecemcf) — Flyweight boxer, bronze medalist for Scotland: 6486% rise
• Claudia Fragapane (@claudia_frag) — Gymnast who became first Englishwoman to win four gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games: 793% rise
• Ross Murdoch (@RossMurdoch_) — Won gold in the 200m breaststroke: 788% rise
• Nile Wilson (@NileMW) — English gymnast, won four medals including gold in horizontal bar: 390% rise
• Adam Peaty (@adam_peaty) — English swimmer, won two gold medals: 314% rise

6. Hashtags brought fans together 

The official hashtags of the Games #Glasgow2014 and #BringItOn were used by organisers, journalists, athletes and fans alike to bring together the global conversation on Twitter.

During the Games there were more than 790,000 mentions of the official hashtags #Glasgow2014 and #BringItOn

7. 360-degree perspectives

Twitter became an extension of the action on the field, as competitors grasped the opportunity to engage directly with their fans. One new way of doing that was via the Vine 360 Booth, which had its UK debut based in the recreational area at the Athletes’ Village.

Competitors queued up to get involved and shot a series of six-second Vine clips, which were tweeted out from @TweetCam2014:

8. Behind the scenes

Charity partner @unicef_uk gave fans a unique behind-the-scenes Games perspective with the @TwitterMirror in the Athletes’ Village:

Broadcaster @BBCSport used a handheld @TwitterMirror to creating the #71Club which captured a photo of an athlete from each of the 71 participating nations, starting with this picture of Malaysia’s Azizul Awang:

And ending with this:

9. Alternative perspectives

The @Glasgow2014 organisers put cameras in special vantage points, tweeting out some of the most compelling and unusual images of the Games:

10. Glasgow 2014 told in Tweets

Here is a collection of some of the great Tweets that summarise the story of #Glasgow2014: