Behind the Tweets at #Tokyo2020 - Team Canada

The Games are now complete and the last 17 days have left sports fans worldwide with incredible memories from top events, led by some of the finest athletes on the planet. Fans everywhere turned to Twitter to cheer for thrilling victories, engage with athletes, watch highlights from official broadcasters, and share in the live experience.

We crunched the numbers to find the Canadian athletes, sports and Tweets that owned the podium on Twitter during the event. These rankings are based on all Tweets by Canadians between July 23, 2021 and August 8, 2021.

Most mentioned #TeamCanada athlete accounts

1. Andre De Grasse (@De6rasse) - sprinting
2. Penny Oleksiak (@OleksiakPenny) - swimming
3. Christine Sinclair (@sincy12) - soccer
4. Maggie Mac Neil (@mags_swims26) - swimming
5. Damian Warner (@DamianWarner) - decathlon

Most mentioned sports

1. Soccer
2. Track & field
3. Gymnastics
4. Basketball
5. Swimming

Most Tweeted emoji

1. 🥇
2. 🚨
3. 🥉
4. 🥈
5. 👏

The #TeamCanada hashtag was a big hit on Twitter during the Games as well, unlocking a custom team emoji. This was the most Liked Tweet featuring the hashtag during the Games.

Best in Brands

Many Canadian brands took to Twitter during the Games, leveraging Twitter’s blend of unique content and real-time conversation. 

Here are some top Canadian brand highlights.

Canadian Tire (@CanadianTire) launched a campaign with CBC where Canadian fans on Twitter received notifications when marquee events were live streamed on Twitter. This included the live stream of Maggie Mac Neil’s heroic effort to win the nation’s first gold in the 100M Butterfly. 

Kraft Peanut Butter (@KraftPB) launched a daily Moment campaign where Canadians who chose to sleep instead of watching the Games live could catch up on all the moments that mattered to them as they ate their breakfast.

Air Canada (@AirCanada) used their unique role as the airline of #TeamCanada to host Q&As with Canadian athletes as they returned home from Tokyo. The bilingual Q&As featured medalists Maude Charron and Kylie Masse answering fan’s questions at the airport before their final flights back to Canada.

Kraft Dinner (@kraftdinner) engaged race walker Evan Dunfee to represent the iconic Canadian brand as Dunfee looked to medal in the 50KM Race Walk. Kraft Dinner owned the day using a Trend Takeover, encouraging Canadians to try the sport and to cheer Evan on. Evan placed third with an incredible finish, leading to this amazing gesture and Twitter exchange.

Enter the Paralympic Games

With the Games now complete, the sporting world will now look forward to the Opening Ceremony for the Paralympic Games on August 24th. Fans can continue using the #TeamCanada and #ÉquipeCanada hashtags to unlock the custom emoji to support our Paralympians in Tokyo. 

Just as this summer’s Games were made for Twitter, look for conversations around the Paralympic Games to be strong as Canadians cheer on and support our athletes competing in Tokyo.