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TwitterLONDON – Michael Phelps is the Olympic athlete mentioned in more tweets than any other during the Summer Olympics here so far, Twitter said.
A fellow U.S. swimmer and a British diver round out the top three.
“The silver medal in the Twitter-mentions contest goes to Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) and Ryan Lochte (@RyanLochte) earns the bronze,” the micro blogging service said in a blog post entitled “Celebrating Olympic accomplishments.”
Diver Daley, who failed to win a medal early in the Games, received profanity-laden and homophobic tweets.
Phelps though has been the Twitter star of the Games to-date. The biggest spike of the day on Tuesday in Olympics-related conversations on Twitter was also caused by Phelps in U.S. prime time when he won a record-breaking 19th medal in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, according to the company.
The London 2012 Summer Games have been dubbed the first social media Olympics, and Twitter has played a key role and grabbed headlines. Among other things, Twitter use has been blamed for overloaded networks, led to player expulsions and at least one arrest.
And Guy Adams, LA editor of The Independent, had posting privileges revoked for a day after a Twitter tirade ended with the email address of an NBC executive.
“The past few days have been full of captivating, historic Olympics moments,” Twitter said in its blog post. “As records are shattered and dreams achieved, the world has turned to Twitter to come together in celebration.”
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
