Social media erupted with support as Thais nationwide cheered on their athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The outpouring of support trended throughout the event. The Thai athletes delivered outstanding performances, making history by winning 1 gold medal, 3 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals at the Paris Olympic Games.
Dataxet Company Limited gathered data using the DXT360 tool for social listening from July 24 to August 8, 2024. They analyzed social media users’ interest in the latest Olympic Games, covering popular sports and favorite athletes. Facebook was found to be the platform with the highest user engagement for commenting on and following news about this global sporting event.
Buzzwords about The Olympic Games 2024
The Olympic Games 2024 created a phenomenon of overwhelming interest in both mainstream media and social media. People not only followed the athletes’ movements and details of each competition but also created new memes that spread rapidly, becoming viral trends on various online platforms.
Top 3 Sports Popular among Netizens
Taekwondo Athlete "Tennis Panipak" Secures 1st Olympic Gold in Paris
Taekwondo was one of Thailand’s medal hopes in this Olympics. Thai athletes successfully claimed a gold medal, bringing joy to the entire nation. This victory was widely discussed on social media, generating over 3 million engagements in just one day.
The data collection graph shows that August 8, 2024, was the day with the highest social media activity. This was when Thais united to support Tennis Panipak in the women’s 49kg taekwondo final round. She won the gold medal in taekwondo at the 2024 Olympics, marking Thailand’s first gold medal in this year’s Games. This competition will be Tennis Panipak’s last due to health issues, perfectly concluding her legend with two consecutive Olympic gold medals.
Another key figure mentioned alongside Tennis was “Coach Che” Chatchai Chea, the man behind Thailand’s taekwondo success. Coach Che was selected by the Taekwondo Association to coach the Thai national taekwondo team for over 22 years, since 2002.
A deeply touching moment for Thais came when, after her victory, Tennis hugged Coach Che and bowed to him. The image quickly went viral on social media.
"View Kunlavut" Wins Silver in Badminton, Thailand's Favorite Pastime
Badminton was another popular sport that Thais enthusiastically supported, especially during the men’s singles gold medal match. View Kunlavut, the badminton player who took Thailand to final for the first time, received overwhelming support from Thai social media users. Celebrities and even Miss Universe, who has Thai and Danish heritage, posted stories of watching the final round with her family.
The social media world also shared stories of May Ratchanok congratulating View, and interviews with Viktor, the Danish badminton player who won the gold medal, praising View. The coach’s words to View before the final round also deeply impressed netizens.
Thai social media users praised View Kunlavut for winning a silver medal in his first Olympic appearance. They expressed confidence that in the next Olympics, View will surely be able to win the gold medal.
Thai Weightlifting Stages Emphatic Comeback with 3 Medal Wins
Weightlifting was another sport that received overwhelming interest and support from Thai sports fans in the 2024 Olympics. After the International Weightlifting Federation lifted the ban on Thailand, Thai athletes were able to return to compete on the world stage once again.
The performance of the Thai weightlifting team greatly impressed fans, securing a total of 3 medals:
– 2 silver medals from the men’s 61 kg and 73 kg categories
– 1 bronze medal from the women’s 49 kg category
A highlight that generated considerable buzz on social media was the image of “Fang” Theeraphong taking a sniff of Hong Thai brand herbal inhaler while waiting for his competition. This moment went viral, with Thai fans jokingly commenting that “Thailand’s secret weapon for winning medals is Hong Thai herbal inhaler”
Thai Herbal Hongthai Company Limited congratulated the athletes, stating, “Hong Thai is happy to be part of boosting morale, providing refreshment, and being a secret weapon that accompanies Thai athletes. We stand alongside all Thai people in their pursuit of success.”
10 Olympic Athletes Trending on Social Media Throughout the 2024 Games
All data analyzed for insights were collected from DXT360 (Social Listening and Media Monitoring Platform) of Dataxet Limited, collected between 24 July – 8 August 2024.
By Narupon Klaiyuangthong, Sawatsaporn Siribunyarit, Kanisorn Rasrichai
