Olympics Win Gold on Digg

The 2008 Olympics has dominated Digg over the past week with webmasters trying to work in some Beijing-related content in order to bring sports-hungry readers to their websites in their thousands.

Here are 20 of the best-performing Olympics-related articles I have enjoyed after finding them via Digg and they are excellent examples of how to approach one topic from a number of different angles. A lot of these subjects could be used for other sporting events and no doubt they will also be reworked in four years time for the 2012 games in London!

20. All the Olympic Logos from 1896 to 2012

Essentially a boring history lesson on all the Olympic logos used from 1896 to the present, with the 2012 London logo thrown in for good measure. 2008BeijingOlimpics.com didn’t offer much in the way of content apart from a list of logo graphics, minus those from the Winter Olympics, but almost 700 Diggs proved the effort went to was enough to peak a surfer’s interest.

Glansbourg “No smog represented in the ‘08 version?”
krumel “Retrospective. Nice.”
metapop “i love olympic (and world cup, for that matter) posters & logos… this would have been even better if they were hi-res though.”
pirlok “Have you noticed something wrong with the logo from Moscow 1980? I know I did.”
Megaton “Someone doesn’t know how to spell “Olympics”…”

19. The Olympic Torch Transformed Over History

The first of two entries from the New York Times who manage to turn a rather dull subject, a list of all the olympic torches used in the summer and winter games from 1936 to 2008, into something visually interesting and interactive. More than 550 Digg users votes for this cool Flash timeline.

greatgatsbyll “Those designs are on fire. ”
jeflin “I think the one in oslo 1952 looks like an umbrella… not stylish.”
jezsik I won’t comment on the awesome collection of torches, but kudos for NYT for presenting them in a way that’s easy - and fast - to read!”
SreyaNotfilc “Love the 1936 torch! Mmmmm eagles bearing swastikas never go out of style…”
Anorhc “Sydney obviously takes the cake for the best looking one, but I find Beijing to be one of the more creative ones.”

18. A Map of Olympic Medals

The New York Times came up with an innovative and stylish way to present what is essentially boring data of the medal winners from all the Olympic games from 1896 to the present. Almost 800 Diggs proved its users were delighted with how easy it was to explore the games and discover who won what. It is also being updated while the 2008 Olympics are taking place.

Dftw “I like how convenient it is to mess around with it and discover things.”
appletalk “It’s great how you can see the history of the world in a global sports event.”
Zipko “One thing I noticed going through it is that in most Olympics the host country got a significant boost in medal count.”
HeDiggMe “30M people and only 12 medals….Canada needs to step their game up!”
insomniac8500 “It’s interesting to see how hosting the games allows you to win more medals. Mexico was barely on the map until they hosted it 1968 and 1936 Germany says a lot.”

17. World’s Worst Olympic Swimming Trial

This is an example of how old material can be reignited when a new event ties into it. This video on Youtube shows “Eric the Eel” and his infamous winning of his 100m freestyle heat because his two opponents were disqualified for a false start. Despite this being taken from the 2000 Olympics and the video itself uploaded eight months ago, over 2,800 entertained Digg users gave it the thumbs up.

noahgelman “I was cheering and shouting for him near the end hoping he would break the New Guinea record. That was awesome.”
T440 “Although I laughed, he still did a lot better than I could do.”
barnsaton “I feel bad for the two guys who were disqualified. You can hear the audience and the announcers laughing at them throughout the whole video.”
spencenaz “Hey, at least we can feel reasonably confident that he wasn’t doping.”
oSallyo “Eric the Eel was the was one of the most memorable moments of the Sydney Olympics. The crowd cheered for him the whole way.”

16. Ten Fascinating Facts About the Ancient Olympic Games

Most people are aware the first Olympics took place in Greece but did you know the athletes competed naked? Or one of the events could be described as an early form of the UFC? Or an ancient “computer” was used to set the Olympics date? Well thanks to Neatorama you do and the article received over 600 Diggs.

alapoet “I think the female gymnasts and skaters should *still* compete in the nude.”
orlando69 “Mixed martial arts … in the NUDE! There is good nude and bad nude and this would qualify as bad nude. Picturing trying to open a pickle jar only 100 times worse.”
crice “Olympic victors often won many, many pots of olive oil (awarded by their hometowns), which was worth its weight in gold back then.”
Grolsch “I think Borat portrayed very well what would wrestling look like in ancient Olympics.”
TheGhostMan “Those horny spartans.”

15. Eighteen Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For

This article from Mashable amounts to little more than a list of minnow nations, illustrated with maps, who are sending one or two athletes to the Olympics. Not particularly innovative but over 650 Digg users voted it to the front page anyway!

JonCaker “Screw Britain, I’m rooting for Grenada!”
EdmontonEh “Is it just me or are many of these athletes running, shooting, or fighting?”
TheResistless “Oh man, I’m so rooting for Oman.”
UltramegaOK “Could you imagine being the only Olympic athlete from your country. You’d get so much tail…”
Cubedude04 “I think most of digg will be rooting for the virgin islands”

14. The Wierdest Olympic Events Throughout History

Almost 600 Diggs were received for this list by Asylum of 10 of the strangest and downright pointless events to have “graced” the Olympics over the years. Tug of War? Live Pigeon Shooting? Long Jump for Horses? Rubbish!

darkchild82 “Pistol Dueling (1906) - So, whoever survived won?”
misanthropegirl “I am sad I missed the golden days when you could get a gold medal with a much lower level of athleticism.”
wejmahtin “I was sure the dwarf toss had made it.. ”
Shadic “What’s wrong with Rope Climb and Tug-Of-War, exactly?”
lumpyup “Solo synchronized swimming looks as stupid as it sounds…”

13. Five Things You Didn’t Know - 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Trivia usually does well on Digg but perhaps Ask Men could have done a little better with their list - five items just doesn’t waste enough browsing time! However, over 500 Digg users seemed to be satisfied with finding out no world records will be broken in Beijing or the fact baseball will not feature as an event after 2008.

pitchblack16 “If everyone was so worried about pollution than why are they holding the games in Beijing?”
philostrato “sucks about baseball…”
Shogi “1.5 million people? God damn China, people’s republic my ass.”
TheResistless “Now how am I going to eat dog?”
CobaltBlue “I’d be willing to wager that some world records will be set.”

12. Nine Cities Destroyed by the Olympics

This article by Maxim was perhaps titled a bit over dramatically, but is an interesting list nonetheless on some of the controversies, scandals and disasters which have rocked the Olympics over the years, such as the mass poisoning of stra dogs in Athens ahead of the 2004 games and the botched rescue attempt in Munich 1972 which left a group of Israeli athletes and coaches dead. Over 900 Digg users voted.

Molle7 “As if a ban on spitting is the worst thing that has happened to Beijing relating to the Olympics.”
tehbored “So when I visited the Olympic stadium in Montreal three years ago, they were still paying for it? Awesome!”
Wabble “Soon to be London?”
whoomp123 “I was expecting a list of olympic cities ruined by debt. Doesn’t it cost billions to prepare and aren’t most cities are lucky if they break even?”
amauldin71 “As usual Maxim brings the insightful analysis we’ve come to know and appreciate from that thoughtful group of writers they have working there. Oh wait.”

11. Top 10 New Sports Technologies that Will Change the Olympics Forever

Technology stories are always a hit on Digg. This article by Dvice about innovative new gadgets and clothing to help the athletes perform better, such as the Nike Precool vest and the Speedo LZR Racer Swimsuit received over 800 Diggs.

gbarberi “Some of this technology, like the precool vest, is fine. Some, like the air pistol, just take away from the sport.”
Matsky “How can you really feel that you’ve “beaten” a record when you’ve got all this new tech the old guys didn’t have?”
wolfing “If we continue down this road, who’s stopping anyone from creating super legs for sprinters, or shoes with springs for jumpers, or guided bullets or rows that push water, etc?”
fhernand “I’m still waiting for head-mounted cams to show the athletes point-of-view.. come on, that can’t be that hard, can it?”
andywu92 “When will people stop breaking world records? This can’t go on forever..”

10. Fifty Soccer Stars Who Will Shine at the Olympics

An example of concentrating on one particular event at the Olympics was offered by SoccerAdvise who listed 50 soccer stars who would appear in the soccer tournament. A run down of the likes of Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Robinho and the rest attracted over 100 Diggs.

emecks “Olympic Football AND Euro 2008 - what a year for it :D”
pws1970 “Messi is only 21 - it feels he has been around for years longer - should be a good tourney. ”
UniqueJewelry “We thoroughly enjoyed Euro2008. Can’t wait to watch the Olympic games, it should be fun!!!”
Rizoh “It’s crazy how Freddy Adu went from sensational to the epitome of underachievement in U.S. soccer.”
multimonkey “I think Man City’s new signing Jo could be one of the stars of the tournament, and prove to be a great addition to the squad this season.”

9. 100 Olympic Athletes to Watch

This article confirms the theory that “big” lists do well on the social media scene. Time compiled a list of 100 athletes who will compete in this year’s Olympics and over 350 Diggs were registered. What prevented this from receving more votes was the website’s insistance on the user to click through each of the 100 athletes to discover the next on the list. However, the write up which accompanied each athlete was impressive to say the least.

GPSCenter “Does Time really expect me to click my way though 100 athletes, ummm I’ll pass…”
scams “Interestingly, due to the Chinese spelling of Australia, they will enter the opening ceremony third last, immediately before Zimbabwe and China.”
bparkey “I find it interesting that Brad Vering is the wrestler mentioned and not Jake Deitchler. Surely a kid who just graduated from high school is more interesting. He is the youngest American wrestler in the Olympics in 32 years.”
andrewglover87 “Wait, they have Freddy Adu, but no Messi or Ronaldinho? This may be the first Olympics so many high profile football players have competed in.”
alexgsmith “After reading six of the first ten are all from the US, I’m thinking it’s not the most objective of lists.”

8. Eight Biggest Olympic Marketing Screw Ups

This list compiled by Newsweek highlighted eight of the largest marketing blunders in the history of the modern Olympics. Those which caused a specific company embarrassment and those which tarnished the reputation of the games in general received over 500 Diggs.

thegrantman “What about China trying to sell us a cleaner Beijing by installing photographic backdrops to hide the air pollution?”
Mr Tito “I’m surprised McDonald’s 1984 scratch-and-win debacle didn’t make this list.”
TWiThead “Conspicuously absent from MSNBC’s list is the “Olympics Triplecast” of 1992, on which parent company NBC took an estimated $100 million loss (not accounting for inflation).”
CasinoJack “What about the London 2012 Epilepsy-inducing advert?”
damawa42 “The 8 Biggest AMERICAN Olympics Marketing Screw-ups”

7. Ten Things You Don’t Want to Miss at the Olympics

With NBC staging 3,600 hours of coverage at the 2008 Olympics, Popcrunch came up with 10 things worth looking out for if you had to limit yourself to what you could watch. Over 800 Digg users agreed and voted this story to the front page.

blackdrivel “The 400 meter dash smog collapse…”
ironeus “Many great events to come, looking forward to some records breaking.”
Smokeydabear “Womens’ beach volleyball.”
EtherGnat “I know two things you don’t want to miss at the 2008 Olympics: Bia and Branca Feres, the Brazilian synchronized swimming twins. ”
burstaneurysm “Is it wrong that the only thing I cared about on that page was Alison Stokke at the bottom?”

6. The Top 10 Greatest Olympic Moments in Recent History

Almost 600 Digg users voted for this article by Sportingo which highlighted 10 great moments of the Olympics, despite a number of Diggers finding fault with several notable exclusions.

Stavrosian “I’d have had Steve Redgrave’s 5th Gold medal in there, but it could just be my British bias I guess.”
LanceStallion “Can’t believe they left Rulon Gardner’s 2000 upset of Alexander Karelin of Russia off the list.”
barstegry “I think one of the greatest Olympic moments ever is Derrick Redmond in 1992, finishing his race with his father after blowing his hamstring. Still brings tears to my eyes. That is the Olympic spirit.”
XtheXLanternX “No Kerri Strugg making the final vault with a busted ankle to win the gold for the US? :(”
sqeakingkev “Way too many Track events. Way too much emphasis on winning. The Olympics is more about competing and the struggle to win than winning itself.”

5. The Seven Scariest Women at the Olympic Games

This is more like it! A sexist and downright stereotypical post from Busted Coverage highlighting 10 female weightlifters, most of whom come from Eastern Europe. The “don’t fancy yours much” brigade came out in force and the article received almost 1,000 Diggs.

CanarsieBK “The only thing to say is ‘wow’”
baconface “Olha Korobka holds the European Snatch record. I’d like to see it.”
handler “The one in the blue just looks like a mound of flesh.”
MiamiRox “I’m pretty sure that last woman is actually Jabba the Hut.”
tonyteetime “In the former Soviet Union, you don’t lift the woman ; the woman lift you.”

4. The 26 Hottest Olympic Women Athletes

If hideous women attract a lot of Diggs, then so do the hot, sexy ones. Campus Squeeze put together an obvious example of how “sex sells” with a comprehensive list of sexy athletes who will be competing in Beijing. Over 900 Digg users voted for it.

chaos7 “16, 2, and 1 are the hottest.”
diggenerate “I am older than every single one of them :-(”
ekboost “The two twins on the synchronized swimming team are ridiculous. Granted they’re 19, but wow.”
tsf5000 “Only the top 10 or so could actually be considered hot.”
Vvolf “26 is one of the cutest faces and 19 would probably look absolutely stunning in a formal black dress.”

3. The Most Egregious Beach Volleyball Photography

This article from Asylum went even more extreme on the whole “sex sells” philosophy by displaying a shamless slideshow gallery of close-up images of the pert bottoms from various female beach volleyball players. The fact they play the sport in the Olympics is incidental because it would have done well on Digg no matter when it was submitted. More than 1,200 Digg users appreciated the stunning views on display.

badfrog “I hope they tackle each other and hug like they did in 2004.”
MathieuGothax “I’m sure that a good part of the audience also watch ice skating, for the same reason…”
opzero “Was there text to that article? I hope they didn’t even bother writing anything, because I certainly didn’t bother reading…”
sdellboy “Now, where’s that job application for Getty Images?”
oddish “Best place for advertisements in the whole olympics, IMO.”

2. Fourteen Reasons Fast Food in Beijing is a Little Different

Another great example of an article which would do well whenever submitted, but piggybacked on the popularity of the Olympics for greater exposure. Who doesn’t enjoy looking at the “disgusting” dishes people eat in Asia? Dogs? Sea Snakes? Silk Worms? Pass me another plate! Brain Goodbye actually published this story on June 10 but it was two months later before almost 1,000 Digg users got it to the front page.

vsujohn2 “Wheres my deep fried puppies at ?”
coolchu001 “These aren’t normal “fast food” these are actually Chinese delicacies.”
chicaneuk “Different tastes for different cultures. Some of that stuff probably tastes fantastic, but we’re conditioned to believe that stuff like insects / bugs taste disgusting. If you’d been bought up with them, you’d love them.”
bingo000 “Can I have some scorpions with my egg and toast please?”
pandaboy99 “At least you know what kind of bugs your eating… in a hot dog you never know what your going to get.”

1. Twenty Ways to Die in the 2008 Summer Olympics

If sex sells then so do hideous sporting accidents. All Athlists have done here is list a series of Olympic events but found Youtube videos of bloopers associated with each one to attack a dull subject from a different and exciting angle. Almost 600 Digg users voted for the list which displayed one painful, but hilarious, catastrophe after another, proving that people love nothing better than to revel in the misfortune of others.

seraph582 “Wait, wouldn’t that first video’s “way to die” have left that person with a disfigured face?”
mustardapple “What about telling a Yo Mamma joke to a bald guy and getting headbutted?”
FENWAYFREAK “Funny, funny, funny…political.”
palehorse864 “There were soooo many more ways to die in the old olympics.”
wilsondus “I doubt there will be too many fat people on the diving board at the Olympics…”