Australia's female athletes took centre stage on social media during the Paris Olympics, according to data from Meltwater, led by swimmer Ariarne Titmus with the highest social media reach and engagement.

Other notable athletes included Jess Fox, Kaylee McKeown, Grace Brown, Arisa Trew, Saya Sakakibara, Mollie O'Callaghan, and Nina Kennedy.

Olympic sponsors were also up in the mix, with Samsung, Coca Cola, and Toyota securing the most online interest in terms of reach and engagement. Samsung achieved the highest global reach (189m) and engagement (1.11m) among all major sponsors. In Australia, Toyota had the highest reach, while Coca Cola saw the highest engagement.

"Sports marketing has traditionally focused more on male sports, but as we’ve seen with the Olympics, as well as recent sporting events such as the Australian Open and World Cup, there’s huge spectator interest in women’s sport and individual athletes. Women’s sport has been attracting more sponsorship money in recent years, but there’s still a gap that represents a lucrative opportunity for brands to support athletes and engage with audiences through social media," said Ross Candido, VP Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia, Meltwater.

Tennis and swimming were the most discussed sports on social media, with 18m+ and 16m+ activity respectively. Boxing saw the highest number of posts due to controversy surrounding Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, while breaking won the highest number of engagement actions, likely due to breakdancer Raygun going viral.

"Providing athletes with a phone was a brilliant move with many using them to take selfies at the medal ceremonies, giving huge exposure. What we assume was Samsung’s assumed exclusive tagging arrangement by the official Olympic social accounts also shows the power of a focused digital strategy and effective hashtag use," Candido said.

"Their success suggests a strategic exclusivity arrangement and smart influencer partnerships, demonstrating the immense impact a well-executed social campaign can have. What we hope by providing these figures is to emphasise why measuring social media success is vital - it allows businesses to quantify impact, optimise strategies and demonstrate the tangible value of their online presence."

New South Wales had the highest amount of Olympic-related social posting, followed by Victoria and Queensland. When normalised by population, Queensland was the biggest Olympic fan, followed by the Northern Territory and Victoria.