Olympic Blog Hound: Bloggers Discuss Olympic Stars' Staying Power
Bloggers discuss the stars of the Beijing Games thus far, with a particular focus on which athlete has most distinguished themselves.
Scribblings From My Desk
Posted by: peterdray |
| "Phelps has demonstrated his superiority over years and years. If Bolt is still the man to beat in 2012, then perhaps he can be put into the same category as Phelps. But in my opinion, not until then.” |
Finger Food
Posted by: jrfinger |
| "At its essence, Bolt's feat was a transcendent sports moment. It was the ‘Shot heard 'round the world.’ ... Phelps did not look invincible during the Olympics. ... [He] had some luck on his side. Bolt left no doubt.” |
AaronGleeman.com
Posted by: Aaron |
| “There's zero question that Phelps dominated his sport on a historic level, but ‘swimming’ is a lot more specialized and niche-like than ‘running.’ Being unbeatable in the pool doesn't translate to much else, … but running ridiculously fast translates on at least some level to nearly every major sport.” |
Styledash
Posted by: Kyle Hepp |
| "Nastia Liukin is an undeniable star. Watching gymnastics you just can't take your eyes off her. … With an Olympic gold medal Nastia's place in history is already cemented -- becoming a household name via major endorsements is just the icing on the cake.” |
Livingston Out Loud
Posted by: admin |
| "What really gets me about [Shawn Johnson] is that she loves what she does, she has grace as a gymnast and even more as a person. … While the media goes ga-ga over characters like … Usain Bolt whose arrogance belies a lack of self-assurance at his core, I applaud this Iowa kid.” |
SportsMedia Challenge's Buzz Manager analyzed blog discussion of the potential for sponsorships and "staying power" for Olympic athletes. Bloggers believing that certain Olympians could translate their success into long-term visibility were counted as positive. Bloggers believing that no matter how successful they are, athletes whose sports are featured only once every four years will quickly fade from the public eye after the Games are over were counted as negative. Visit www.SportsBusinessDaily.com for more info on this topic. See more info on this topic.
- The Buzz ranked 3 out of 10, a topic of a low level of interest among sports bloggers.
- Bloggers in the positive category felt that perhaps if anyone could do it U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps could emerge from the Olympics as a star and remain in the public eye for an extended period of time. Many felt Phelps needs to "strike while it's hot" to maximize his marketability. There was little positive blog discussion about the staying power potential of other U.S. stars such as gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. The potential for stardom for U.S. swimmer Dara Torres was mentioned, with the thought being she could do well in the "mom" demographic.
- Bloggers in the negative category were few. They felt that even with Phelps' enormous success at these games, consumers will quickly shift their attention to more popular, seasonal sports once swimming is no longer being featured. The missed opportunity of U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay to capitalize on an Olympic performance was also mentioned, as bloggers felt he lost a great deal of potential sponsorship income and exposure that could have boosted his staying power.
- Bloggers in the neutral category were unsure of the staying power of many Olympic athletes. Some bloggers were speculating about which companies would be lining up to make deals with Phelps. There was more discussion of Liukin in this category, many thinking the VISA commercial featuring her may help boost her brand, but that the successes of both Liukin and Johnson were overshadowed by Phelps, hampering their chances of remaining in the public eye.
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