The 5 most watched Olympic events in Canada
Canadian viewership of the Summer Olympics in London was up 88 per cent over the 2008 Games in Beijing, according to numbers from Bell and Rogers. The live broadcast of the Games's closing ceremony was watched by 7.5 million viewers while these five events caught the attention of the most Canadians during the 17 days of the Games.
The most watched event for the television consortium of Bell and Rogers was the men’s 100-metre final with 6.5 million Canadians tuning in as Jamaica's Usain Bolt ran to his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in that event on Aug. 5.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
The Canadian women’s soccer team was one of the most unexpected stories of this Olympics as 3.8 million Canadians watched the team’s heartbreaking semi-final match against the United States on Aug. 6. Team Canada captain, and eventual closing ceremony flag bearer, Christine Sinclair (pictured right) scored a hat trick during the 4-3 loss at Old Trafford in Manchester.Hussein Malla/The Associated Press
The third most watched event in Canada was the men’s 1500-metre semi-final on Aug. 5, with 3.1 million viewers. After a fall mid-race, Canada’s Nathan Brannen finished just four seconds too slow for qualification in the final.Dylan Martinez/Reuters
On Aug. 4, 3 million Canadians tuned in as Dutch swimmers Ranomi Kromowidjojo (left) and Marleen Veldhuis nabbed a gold and bronze medal, respectively, in the women’s 50-metre freestyle final.Jorge Silva/Reuters
Rounding out the top five most watched events was round one of the women’s 400-metre hurdles on Aug. 5 with 3 million Canadian viewers. Canada's Sarah-Lynn Wells (left) finished fourth in the heat. She moved on to the semi-finals, but was knocked out when she finished eighth.Lucy Nicholson/Reuters