Olympic riposte – the verdict according to Twitter

Here is the latest entry, by Regine Lee, to our writing competition to win a bottle of Pol Roger, Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1999 Champagne.

The morning after the London-Paris 2012 Olympics has arrived. The stadiums, velodromes, aquatic parks and fields in each city have shuttered their doors until the Paralympics, and the citizens of both capitals are now taking stock of the last 17 days over their morning cups of coffee.

There have been countless highlights during the London-Paris games, but if one thing can be said it is that this was an Olympics of the digital age in which every one of those moments was caught in cyberspace posterity. Round the clock coverage from the BBC and France Télévisions broadcasted each second of every event. Office workers surreptitiously watched their favourite athletes live on their computers at work and students refreshed websites with results tables during lectures.

However, it was Twitter that reigned supreme, providing 150 million personal updates from the athletes in the village, spectators in the seats, the media, and anyone else with a passing interest in the glories and foibles of the games. To commemorate the successful run of a truly unique bilateral Olympics, here follows a compilation of the top ten tweets of the 2012 Olympics.

London Olympics
Hyper-kinetic #openingceremony co-directed by Luc Besson and Danny Boyle inspires awe and induces seizures worldwide.  

Boris Johnson
Hanging with Bertrand Delanoë. Literally. Both of us stuck as synchronised zipwire stunt goes wrong. #zoinks! Had a good chat about housing policy though.

Reuters Top News‏
From commanding airstrikes to manning airport-style security-Joint NATO taskforce led by France and UK picking up slack from 4GIS outside Earl’s Court.

Transport for London
Olympics day 2 update: discarded Lucozade and Gini bottles outnumber commuters during evening rush hour on Tube and @MetroParis

BBC Sport
Marathon swimmers have completed cross-Channel course at Calais. Now they’ve headed off to stock up on cheap wine before taking ferry back to Dover #boozecruise

François Hollande ‏Can’t get any sleep at the Palace with beach volleyball happening on the Champs-Élysées. Sarkozy never had to deal with ‘Moves like Jagger’ rattling the windows.

Time Out London ‏
Long queues at Paris stadium’s massive McDo. French misinterpret the ‘Mobot’ as Farah endorsing Big Macs, Americans confuse servers by ordering ‘Royales w/cheese’

Daily Mail Online‏
Friendly London v. Paris cycle scheme bike race in Hyde Park is turning foul as French accuse Boris Bikes of having ‘magic wheels’

Steven Spurrier
Judgement of Paris-London 2012 concludes. London's Shiraz-Tempranillo showed well & took top spot but ageability is being questioned. 187ml PET bottles won’t help.

London 2012
Timothy Spall as Churchill & Jean Reno as De Gaulle sip Pol Roger & Nyetimber @ #closingceremony. Hirst’s Union Jack/Tricolour floor=swirly greatness. Huzzah!