Meltwater, a global leader in media intelligence and data analytics, analysed which athletes dominated the news cycle headlines and had the highest social media impact during the Commonwealth Games two weeks on. 

Emma McKeon not only dominated the Commonwealth games by winning the race to the all time medal record (adding to her total tally of 20 medals), but she was also the most discussed athlete. Kyle Chalmers and Cody Simpson closely follow behind her.

Emma McKeon

She holds the title for most talked about Australian athlete with figures such as:

• Thirty-seven percent share of voice by combined mentions across social and news media content (33,187 total),
• Forty-three percent share of voice by Twitter impressions (153 million),
• Thirty-three percent share of voice across news media and nearly half of the overall share of voice (46 percent) across broadcast media, and
• She was the most talked about by far on WeChat with 54 percent.

Kyle Chalmers

He won gold for Australia in the 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay, setting records in the final split time, allowing him the title of second most talked about Aussie athlete:

• Twenty-five percent share of voice by combined mentions across social and news media content (22,173)
• Nineteen percent share of voice by Twitter impressions (68 million), and
• Twenty-three percent share of voice across news media and 22 percent across broadcast media.

Cody Simpson

Finally, in third place, Simpson gains traction with:

• Nineteen percent share of voice by combined mentions across social media and news media content (16,877)
• Thirty-four percent share of voice by Twitter impressions (121 million)
• Eighteen percent share of voice across news media and 14 percent across broadcast media, and
• Dominates with the most comments, with 75 percent of mentions. 

Throughout the Commonwealth Games, it is not surprising that “gold” was the top keyword associated with the top three athletes.