Between Céline Dion’s opening ceremony performance and Tom Cruise’s closing ceremony stunt, there were countless standout sports moments – from gymnast Simone Biles’ triumphant return to the Olympics to pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis’ new world record.
Other elements of the Games also stood out – for example, Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen’s obsession with the Olympic village’s chocolate muffins and Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn’s zero points performance.
TikTok was an official partner of Team GB and launched a campaign to debut athletes on the app, which saw them successfully reach a new demographic.
Of course, many brands also jumped on the opportunity to get involved with the spectacular sporting event. These are the most engaging organic and sponsored Instagram posts about the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Key takeaways
- #Paris2024 has been tagged in more than 1.9 million Instagram posts and 555,000 TikTok videos
- 21% of the 14 most engaging Instagram campaigns were by Olympic athletes
- In addition to sports brands, food, fashion, tech, beauty and travel companies also created compelling ads
- The most engaging ads documented an influencer or athlete’s experience at the Olympics
- The body diversity seen among female Olympians prompted a celebratory trend on social media
Organic Instagram content
The most engaging organic Instagram posts about the Olympics ranged from discussing body diversity to cardboard beds. Travel and lifestyle creator Sabina Trojanova celebrated female athletes’ diverse body types in a Reel that has had more than 31.7 million views, 1.3 million likes and 10,300 comments in two weeks (256% engagement rate). Several other influencers made similar videos.
Sprinter Desirèe Henry featured on Dr Louise Newson’s podcast to discuss hormonal changes in female athletes (27%), while diver Lois Toulson shared a throwback to training camp in the lead-up to the Olympics (17%). Comedy creator Jesse Chuku made a skit about the opening ceremony (16%). Diver Tom Daley showed off the much-discussed Olympic Village cardboard beds (10%), while cyclist Evie Richards went for a run in her Team GB kit (6%).
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Branded Instagram content
Ben Brown and Ciara Doyle of Going Green Media partnered with the Olympics to talk about the green solutions implemented at the sporting event (21%). The Reel has had more than 4.9 million views, 196,000 likes and 1,600 comments.
Meanwhile, makeup artist Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury worked with her aunt’s eponymous brand, Charlotte Tilbury, to create Céline Dion’s makeup look for her opening ceremony performance (20%). Fitness creator Lucy Davis went to Paris with Meta and the Olympics to run the Marathon Pour Tous (3.6%), and Olympic diver Jack Laugher teamed up with Intel to promote the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro, powered by Intel Core Ultra (3.4%).
Runner Laura Muir thanked Nike for the warm welcome to Paris as the brand displayed her name at the Centre Pompidou (3.3%), while fitness creator Amelia Goldsmith (Milly G Fit) shared her preparation for the 10k run she completed in Paris during the Olympics, alongside a Gymshark discount code (2.6%).
Photographer Caoilfhionn Maguire worked with Corona to produce its campaign for the sports event (2.4%) and lifestyle creator Brontë King partnered with McCoy’s to enjoy its salt and vinegar crisps while watching the Olympics on TV (2%). Former Love Islander Amber Rose Gill watched US gymnast Simone Biles’ performance live in Paris, courtesy of LVMH and Sephora (1.6%).
Swimmer Adam Peaty teamed up with Speedo to share fun facts about himself (1.5%), while comedy creator Makai Fray worked with boohooMAN to go to Paris and interview some of the Olympians (1.3%). Interiors influencer Robyn Donaldson partnered with Eurostar to share everything she did during her trip to Paris right before the Games (0.5%).
Presenter Emma Willis announced she will be co-hosting The National Lottery’s Team GB homecoming event in Manchester on 17 August (0.38%) and fellow presenter Jenni Falconer spent 24 hours in Paris with Global and interviewed former boxer Nicola Adams for her podcast (0.3%).
By Dina Zubi, CORQ news and features writer. Picture credit: Brontë King, Makai Fray and Adam Peaty via Instagram
