• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechFortune 500

Michael Phelps Won Facebook Olympic Gold

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 22, 2016, 2:32 PM ET
SWIMMING-OLY-2016-RIO-PODIUM
USA's Michael Phelps kisses his gold medal on the podium after Team USA won the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Final during the swimming event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 9, 2016. / AFP / Odd Andersen (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)ODD ANDERSEN/ AFP/ Getty Images

Swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, but he’s also won another title: Most talked about athlete on Facebook during this year’s games in Rio.

The social network on Monday released data it collected between August 5 and 21 about its users’ Olympics-related activities. In total, more than 277 million Facebook users interacted with Olympics content on Facebook during that period, according to the company, through 1.5 billion “interactions,” or posts, comments, “likes,” and watching videos.

Phelps’ Live video broadcast, during which he confirmed his planned retirement just before his last race, was also the most watched live video with more than 3.97 million views.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

But Facebook users weren’t only interested in Phelps. Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo’s post congratulating Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt on his gold medals was the most popular non-video post, according to Facebook.

Meanwhile, U.S. gymnast Simone Biles’ photo with actor Zac Efron received the most “love” reactions from Facebook users. Facebook introduced “reactions” earlier this year as alternatives to its classic “like” button.

The most popular event among Facebook users was swimming followed by gymnastics. Facebook also says that more than 15.2 million users decorated their profile photos using Facebook’s Olympics-themed filter, which includes the Rio games’ logo along with a country flag.

But while the Olympics appear to have been a rewarding couple of weeks for Facebook, NBC, the official television broadcaster for the games seemed to struggle a bit. According to some analysts, viewership was down by as much as 17% compared to the previous Summer Games in London in 2012. Its total viewership across broadcast, cable, and digital works out to an average of 27.5 million viewers per night, down from the 30.3 million viewers four years ago.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
AIAnthropic
Exclusive: Anthropic acknowledges testing new AI model representing ‘step change’ in capabilities, after accidental data leak reveals its existence
By Beatrice NolanMarch 26, 2026
4 hours ago
Anthropic's logo on a wall.
AIAnthropic
Exclusive: Anthropic left details of an unreleased model, invite-only CEO retreat, sitting in an unsecured data trove in a significant security lapse
By Beatrice NolanMarch 26, 2026
4 hours ago
Startups & VentureDefense
Defense startup Shield AI is projecting more than $540 million in revenue this year as valuation more than doubles to $12.7 billion
By Jessica MathewsMarch 26, 2026
5 hours ago
AIAnthropic
U.S. judge blocks Pentagon’s ‘Orwellian notion’ to label Anthropic a supply chain risk and ban Claude from the government
By The Associated PressMarch 26, 2026
6 hours ago
AIData centers
Southeast Asia could become a booming AI market if its data centers can beat the heat
By Angelica AngMarch 26, 2026
10 hours ago
New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro pictured
Arts & EntertainmentDisney
Disney CEO’s no good, very bad week: Josh D’Amaro is dealing with 3 major headaches
By Tristan BoveMarch 26, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

C-Suite
'I didn’t want anybody shooting me': Five Guys CEO gave away $1.5 million bonus to employees over botched BOGO burger birthday celebration
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
1 day ago
Environment
Vail Resorts CEO says it’s time to think beyond the $1,000 ski pass that helped build the empire
By Fortune EditorsMarch 26, 2026
24 hours ago
Success
Palantir’s billionaire CEO says only two kinds of people will succeed in the AI era: trade workers — ‘or you’re neurodivergent’
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
3 days ago
Commentary
The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
4 days ago
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of March 25, 2026
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
2 days ago
Success
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon says remote work breeds ‘rope-a-dope politics’ and stunts young workers’ growth
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.