Tom Daley Confirmed As Most Popular Olympian Of London 2012

Daley Wins London 2012's Popularity Contest

Great Britain diver Tom Daley has been confirmed as the most popular athlete at the London 2012 Olympics.

Social media leaderboard company StarCount.com reported that the Plymouth teenager hit 1m Twitter followers after the first week of the Games - thanks partly to controversy around a Twitter troll.

But the 18-year-old's social popularity exploded over the weekend, when he earned Bronze in the nerve-wracking men’s diving final.

It saw Daley achieve an extraordinary 820,000 Facebook Fans and 1.2m Twitter followers through the course of the 30th Olympiad as his social-friendliness ensured he leapfrogged both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps.

1. Tom Daley (GB)

2. Usain Bolt (JAM)

3. Michael Phelps (US)

4. Gabrielle Douglas (US)

5. Jessica Ennis (GB)

6. Sun Yang (CHN)

7. Ryan Lochte (US)

8. Liu Xiang (CHN)

9. Lin Dan (CHN)

10. LeBron James (US)

Pictures of the Day 14 August 2012
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Visitors walk over the Holocaust memorial during warm and sunny weather in Berlin. (AP Photo/dapd, Steffi Loos)
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Embratur, the Brazilian Tourist Board, prepares to welcome the world to Rio in 2016 with a fantastic 100ft water projection on the River Thames. Photo: PA
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General view of the newly opened 'Refuge du Gouter' located near the peak of 'Aiguille du Gouter' in the French Alps, district of St. Gervais, France on June 16, 2011. The new mountain refuge is located at an altitude of 3,815 meters (12,582 feet), on the route to climb Mont-Blanc, and is the highest construction site in Europe. It is to substitute the 1960 old refuge, which will be destructed. Its capacity is of 76 people, then 100 beds until end of September 2012 and 120 beds in 2013. Photo: Loona/ABACAPRESS.COMPA
(04 of13)
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A female fin whale lies stranded on the beach at Carlyon Bay on August 13, 2012 in St Austell, England. The stranded whale was spotted by holidaymakers just after 5pm and initially rescuers had hoped to refloat it. However the 60ft 20metre fin whale, a globally endangered species and the second largest animal on the planet, sadly died on the beach. (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
(05 of13)
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British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha sit at a cafe on August 14, 2012 in Majorca, Spain. The Prime Minister and his family are enjoying a short holiday in Spain and will return to to London next week. Foreign Secretary William Hague is in charge of the Government while the Prime Minister is away. (Photo: Peter Byrne/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
(06 of13)
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A face-painted Pakistani youth gestures in front of his national flag during a ceremony to celebrate Pakistan's Independence Day on the Pakistan-India border at Wagah. Pakistan on August 14 celebrated its 65th anniversary of the country's independence from British rule. (Photo: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)
(07 of13)
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One of four 3-week-old newborn sand cats, peers from a cave in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. The Safari spokeswoman reported a total of 7 sand cats currently living in captivity in Israel, and said the country's sand cat population had been completely extinct, mostly due to habitat destruction. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
(08 of13)
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A damaged primary school in Amiens, northern France. A riot in a deprived area of Amiens has left 16 police officers injured, a primary school severely damaged by fire and a sports centre completely destroyed. Clashes involving around 100 local youths and up to 150 police erupted in the northern French city late on Monday. (Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
(09 of13)
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US President Barack Obama gets a beer and a pork chop as he visits the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa during an unannounced stop on his three-day campaign bus tour. (Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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Rio de Janeiro's city mayor Eduardo Paes (L) waves the Olympic flag next to the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman, upon arrival from the London 2012 Olympics, at the Tom Jobim international airport in Rio de Janeiro, on August 13, 2012. Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympic Games. (Photo credit: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/GettyImages)
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Adrian Bayford, 41, and wife Gillian, 40, from Haverhill, Suffolk, after a press conference at Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hatfield Heath, Hertfordshire, after they won £148.6 million on Friday's EuroMillions jackpot. Photo: PA
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A red deer (Cervus elaphus)near Strobl, some 300 km west of Vienna. (Photo: DIETER NAGL/AFP/Getty Images)
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Firefighters of Alcoy and Elda try to extinguish a fire in Torre de Macanes near Alicante. One person was killed and three injured Sunday as firefighters battled wildfires across Spain, authorities said, the latest victims in a sweltering summer of forest blazes. AFP PHOTO/Pedro ARMESTRE (Photo: PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP/Getty Images)