Olympics score more than 150 million tweets
The 2012 London Olympics generated more than 150 million tweets, lighting up the Twittersphere from the opening to the closing ceremonies.
People who didn't follow the Olympics on TV or streaming media could still keep up with all the action via Twitter.
The micro-blogging site saw more than 150 million Tweets about the summer games, the company blogged yesterday. Now that the games have ended, which athletes and events won the most interest among tweeters?
Jamaica's Usain Bolt win of the gold medal in the 200-meter sprint scored a record on Twitter with 80,000 tweets per minute. His gold medal for the 100-meter sprint came in second with 74,000 tweets per minute. Bolt also was tops on Twitter as the most discussed athlete of the games, though nine others captured more than 1 million tweets each.
Other tweet-worthy triumphs included Great Britain's Andy Murray taking home the gold for men's tennis singles at 57,000 tweets per minute, Jamaica winning the gold and scoring a world record in the men's 4x100 relay at 52,000 tweets per minute, and USA beating Spain in men's basketball with 41,000 tweets per minute.
Two individual moments that lit up Twitter were Kobe Bryant's slam dunk near the end of the basketball game between the USA and Spain and Hope Solo's save in the women's soccer match between the USA and Japan, Twitter added.
Which sport proved most popular on the Twittersphere? Known in the U.S. as soccer and elsewhere as football, this sport kicked up more than 5 million tweets. Swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and volleyball also excited many on Twitter.
Even the opening and closing ceremonies inspired people to take to the tweets. Both triggered a huge surge in activity on Twitter. But the Spice Girls' performance at the closing ceremonies heated things up with more than 116,000 tweets per minute.