LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, July 25, 2024 - Alex Huot, former Head of Social for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has announced the launch of a groundbreaking tool: the world's first and largest psychographic database of Olympians, teams, and international sporting federations. This innovative tool measures fan interests and affinities, detailing the age and gender balance of fans for athletes, teams, and sports across social media platforms.

As Paris 2024 approaches, promising to be the most gender-balanced Olympics in history, Huot's database offers unprecedented insights into fan engagement and support. "While we've made great strides in achieving gender parity among athletes, it's crucial to understand if this balance is reflected in fan support," said Huot, now CEO of Share of Voice.

Currently, the psychographic database includes data for 3,500 Olympians and is rapidly expanding. With ongoing efforts to map the social graphs of Olympians, the database is projected to cover over 5,000 athletes. Utilising AI, anonymised face recognition, and advanced algorithms, the database analyses social media data to provide a comprehensive view of gender distribution among fans for these Olympians as they head to Paris 2024.

"Our aim is to raise awareness and emphasise the need for deeper efforts in achieving gender balance in sports," Huot explained. "The rapidly growing popularity and commercial potential of women's sports make this an especially pertinent issue."

The database reveals interesting insights across different Olympic sports. For instance, in wrestling, one of the 32 summer sports analysed, the tool shows a significant gender gap in social media followership.

Javier Burón, CEO of Audiense, whose company provides data for the tracker, commented, "Understanding the gender dynamics of fan engagement is essential for fostering a more inclusive sports culture. Our data helps illuminate these disparities, offering a pathway to more targeted and effective engagement strategies."

Huot believes this data can be invaluable for teams, sponsors, and sports organisations looking to understand and engage their audience better. "By highlighting these disparities, we hope to inspire targeted efforts to promote women's sports and increase fan engagement across all genders," he added.

The Olympic Gender Balance Tracker is available at www.shareofvoice.ai/gender-balance-tracking. For more detailed information on individual Olympians including fan age demographics, visit www.sponsorseeker.org.