Social media statistics from Sochi 2014

By Mar 18, 2014, 6:52 PM EDT
T.J. Oshie
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The top American social media subjects of the Sochi Olympics were T.J. Oshie and the U.S. men’s hockey team and figure skaters Meryl Davis and Charlie White, according to statistics from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The USOC posted a recap of record social media, digital and broadcast platforms numbers from the Olympics and Paralympics on Tuesday.

Here are some of the highlights:

The most popular tweet from the USOC’s account during the Olympics was this:

The U.S.’ win over Russia via shootout generated a record Games-high 72,630 tweets per minute.

A post of Davis and White winning the U.S.’ first Olympic ice dancing gold was the most popular on Facebook.

As a whole, the U.S. Olympic Team of more than 200 athletes was the most active of all nations on social media in Sochi. It totaled 22,598 posts across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, according to the USOC. Canada (15,716) and Great Britain (9,867) were next highest.

Oshie, Gus Kenworthy and Shaun White experienced the greatest gain in Twitter followers, all adding more than 93,000 each.

The top Paralympics event was the U.S.’ 1-0 win over Russia in the sledge hockey final and this tweet from the U.S. Paralympic Team account:

This USOC recap has more information on record viewership numbers for NBC, NBCSN, NBCOlympics.com, NBC Sports Live Extra and TeamUSA.org.

What’s next for Tatyana McFadden after Sochi success

French Open: Ons Jabeur completes Grand Slam quarterfinal set; one U.S. player left

By Jun 5, 2023, 6:56 AM EDT
Ons Jabeur
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No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1 in the French Open fourth round, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur faces 14th-seeded Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia or Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, playing on a protected ranking of 68, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat leaves Coco Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, as the lone American singles player left out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

Later Monday, Gauff plays 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Top seed Iga Swiatek gets 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko. The winners of those matches play each other in the quarterfinals.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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Jim Hines, Olympic 100m gold medalist and first to break 10 seconds, dies

By Jun 5, 2023, 6:06 AM EDT
Jim Hines
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Jim Hines, a 1968 Olympic 100m gold medalist and the first person to break 10 seconds in the event, has died at age 76, according to USA Track and Field.

“I understand that God called him home today and we send the prayers up for him,” was posted on the Facebook page of John Carlos, a 1968 U.S. Olympic teammate, over the weekend.

Hines was born in Arkansas, raised in Oakland, California and attended Texas Southern University in Houston.

At the June 1968 AAU Championships in Sacramento, Hines became the first person to break 10 seconds in the 100m with a hand-timed 9.9. It was dubbed the “Night of Speed” because the world record of 10 seconds was beaten by three men and tied by seven others, according to World Athletics.

“There will never be another night like it,” Hines said at a 35th anniversary reunion in 2003, according to World Athletics. “That was the greatest sprinting series in the history of track and field.”

Later that summer, Hines won the Olympic Trials. Then he won the Olympic gold medal in Mexico City’s beneficial thin air in 9.95 seconds, the first electronically timed sub-10 and a world record that stood for 15 years.

Hines was part of a legendary 1968 U.S. Olympic track and field team that also included 200m gold and bronze medalists Tommie Smith and Carlos, plus gold medalists Wyomia Tyus (100m), Bob Beamon (long jump), Al Oerter (discus), Dick Fosbury (high jump), Lee Evans (400m), Madeline Manning Mims (800m), Willie Davenport (110m hurdles), Bob Seagren (pole vault), Randy Matson (shot put), Bill Toomey (decathlon) and the men’s and women’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m relays.

After the Olympics, Hines joined the Miami Dolphins, who chose him in the sixth round of that year’s NFL Draft to be a wide receiver. He was given the number 99. Hines played in 10 games between 1969 and 1970 for the Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.

He remains the only person to have played in an NFL regular season game out of the now more than 170 who have broken 10 seconds in the 100m over the last 55 years.