The new comparative data shows the incredible impact of the Olympics on the interest in UK sports, with the likes of swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball seeing over 1,000% increases in search interest over the last month thanks to the excitement and interest of the Games, which came to an end recently.
Better, the UK’s largest operator of public sports and leisure facilities compiled the data before and after the Games to demonstrate the huge attention on so many different sports during the Olympics and hopefully the impact this has on participation, inspiring people of all ages to get involved in a new sport.
The biggest increase in the UK was 3×3 basketball, a brand new event at the Olympics, which saw a rise of 10,547% in interest as people rushed to discover the rules and information about this new format. This was followed by artistic swimming, artistic gymnastics and beach volleyball, all with over 1,000% boosts in demand.
The full ranking with every sport further down, while the original research from Better to discover the ‘most popular Olympic sports’ leading up to the Games can be found here.
| Rank | Olympic Sport | % Increase |
| 1 | 3×3 basketball | 10547.00% |
| 2 | artistic swimming | 3172.70% |
| 3 | artistic gymnastics | 1380% |
| 4 | beach volleyball | 1029% |
| 5 | sports climbing | 650% |
| 6 | canoe slalom | 518.75% |
| 7 | modern pentathlon | 410.34% |
| 8 | softball | 401.50% |
| 9 | triathlon | 400% |
| 10 | BMX freestyle | 391% |
| 11 | canoe sprint | 319% |
| 12 | rhythmic gymnastics | 317.20% |
| 13 | marathon swimming | 310.26% |
| 14 | taekwondo | 305.90% |
| 15 | tennis | 234.50% |
| 16 | BMX racing | 175% |
| 17 | water polo | 175% |
| 18 | handball | 174% |
| 19 | volleyball | 173.60% |
| 20 | judo | 173.55% |
| 21 | rowing | 124.20% |
| 22 | diving | 123% |
| 23 | swimming | 122.20% |
| 24 | hockey | 83.10% |
| 25 | archery | 83% |
| 26 | equestrian | 83% |
| 27 | table tennis | 82.80% |
| 28 | golf | 82% |
| 29 | road cycling | 81.20% |
| 30 | track cycling | 51.70% |
| 31 | football | 50% |
| 32 | karate | 49.72% |
| 33 | sailing | 49.70% |
| 34 | badminton | 49.50% |
| 35 | weightlifting | 49.40% |
| 36 | athletics | 49% |
| 37 | surfing | 49.00% |
| 38 | basketball | 48% |
| 39 | skateboarding | 22.70% |
| 40 | fencing | 22.30% |
| 41 | baseball | 22% |
| 42 | mountain bike | 0% |
| 43 | trampoline | 0% |
| 44 | boxing | -18% |
| 45 | wrestling | -18.00% |
| 46 | rugby | -18.10% |
| 47 | shooting | -45.20% |
Content supplied from Better.
