SportOnSocial analysis of Milano Cortina 2026 social media posts shows female athlete content generated higher engagement, despite receiving less visibility.

New research from Redtorch has revealed that male athletes appeared in 18% more social media posts than female athletes during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, across broadcaster, National Olympic Committee (NOC) and International Federation (IF) accounts – despite female athlete content generating higher average engagement.

The study analysed 23,859 social media posts from Milano Cortina 2026, representing 310.5 million engagements, with every post featured across broadcaster, NOC and IF accounts gender-coded to compare visibility with audience engagement.

The analysis was conducted using SportOnSocial, Redtorch’s proprietary platform powered by a decade of exclusive behavioural data from the Olympic Movement. By tracking how audiences engage with athletes, communities and interests across and beyond sport, SportOnSocial helps identify where sports can credibly show up to reach new people.

Key findings

• Male athletes appeared in around 18% more social media posts than female athletes across broadcasters, NOCs and IFs.
• Female athlete content generated 2.4% higher average engagement per post than male athlete content (13,255 vs 12,946 engagements).
• International Federations showed the biggest gap, with female athletes appearing in 46% of athlete posts, but generating 55% of athlete engagements.
• Among International Federations, female athlete content generated 41% higher average engagement per post than male athlete content.
• National Olympic Committees showed a similar trend, with female athlete content accounting for 32% of athlete posts, while generating 34% of athlete engagements.
• Broadcasters published 18% more male athlete content, despite average engagement remaining almost identical between male and female athlete posts.

“Our latest SportOnSocial research shows that there is still work to do when it comes to giving female athletes the visibility they deserve.”

Says Jess Reus, Head of Communications & Women’s Sport Lead, Redtorch.

“At a time when the Olympic Movement is placing greater emphasis on building stronger year-round audience engagement, these findings show that investing in female athlete storytelling is a real opportunity for federations, broadcasters and brands (as well as the right thing to do).

The data shows there is clearly an audience appetite for more female-led content. Rights holders need to make the investment sooner rather than later or run the risk of getting left behind.”

A consistent trend across the Olympic Games

These Milano Cortina 2026 findings amplify Redtorch’s Beautiful Data research from Paris 2024.

This found that female Olympians featured in 43% of Olympic social media posts but generated 53% of social media engagements across TikTok and Instagram. IFs and brands also favoured male athletes in their content, even though female athlete content attracted stronger audience engagement.

Taken together, the Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026 findings point to a consistent trend. Across both editions of the Olympic Games, stakeholders continue to give greater visibility to male athletes, despite female athlete content consistently performing just as well – or, in many cases, better – with audiences.

A timely insight for International Federations

The findings come as the IOC begins implementing its new Fit for the Future strategy, which identifies Engagement & Revenue as one of its five strategic priorities. The strategy places clear emphasis on creating more data-led engagement, building stronger year-round fan connections, and converting audience attention into sustained engagement and long-term value.

The Milano Cortina 2026 data offers a timely example of why that matters. Among International Federations, female athletes accounted for 46% of athlete posts, but generated 55% of athlete engagements, with female athlete content averaging 41% higher engagement per post than male athlete content.

For Federations looking to align with the IOC’s long-term direction, this is a clear audience signal. Greater visibility for female athletes is not only a representation opportunity – the data suggests it could also be a route to stronger engagement.

To explore what these findings could mean for your organisation, get in touch with the Redtorch team.