David OwenWhat with Richard Peterkin's sheep and Claudia Bokel's coconut, this week's 127th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Monte Carlo was a bit of a moment in the brief history of IOC members and Twitter.

So it seemed an appropriate juncture to update the table of IOC members with the most Twitter followers that we first published in January.

While the medium still seems only to be used by around 30 of the 104 IOC members, nearly all of these have significantly increased their follower numbers during 2014, suggesting that it is slowly getting bedded in at sport's most powerful club.

In terms of those who have amassed followers at the fastest rate this year, two IOC members stand out from the crowd.

One is Sergey Bubka, the former pole-vault champion, expected soon to enter the race for the Presidency of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The Ukrainian's following has soared by nearly 300 percent since our last snapshot, to over 5,000.

This still leaves him trailing in the wake of his probable future electoral rival, Sebastian Coe, by this particular yardstick: the Briton's tally of close to 91,000 followers would put him in the bronze medal position on our IOC Twitter podium, except that he is not yet an IOC member.

Sepp Blatter is still the undisputed "King of Twitter" at the IOC with his followers increasing by 500 per cent since the start of the year ©TwitterSepp Blatter is still the undisputed "King of Twitter" at the IOC with his followers increasing by 500 per cent since the start of the year ©Getty Images



Even Bubka's rate of progress, however, pales in comparison to the IOC's undisputed Twitter maestro, FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Since January, the Swiss septuagenarian's tally of followers has exploded from just over 500,000 to 2.71 million - a jump of well over 500 percent.

The head of world football's much-criticised governing body now has ten times more followers than the next most popular IOC member on Twitter, Angela Ruggiero, a former ice-hockey player from the United States.

So much for social media being the exclusive preserve of the young.

Another ice-hockey player, Hayley Wickenheiser of Canada, who became an IOC member this year, is the highest new entry in our chart, coming in at Number 5 with just under 41,000 followers.

Richard Peterkin's wit and humour during the IOC Session in Monte Carlo this week helped him break into the IOC's list of 20 top Tweeters ©TwitterRichard Peterkin's wit and humour during the IOC Session in Monte Carlo this week helped him break into the IOC's list of 20 top Tweeters ©Twitter

The Saint Lucian IOC member Peterkin's wit and humour during the Monaco Session have helped him edge into the chart at Number 20 with 258 followers.

This puts him just 15 in front of Nicole Hoevertsz, a former synchronised swimmer from Aruba, another Caribbean island.

The full table, based on readings taken on December 11, is as follows (previous ranking and number of followers in brackets).

Top 20

1. (1) Joseph Blatter Switzerland 2.71 million (511,989)
2. (2) Angela Ruggiero United States 248,000 (247,019)
3. (3) Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski Philippines  84,900 (80,740)
4. (4) Gerardo Werthein Argentina 84,000 (65,167)
5. (-) Hayley Wickenheiser Canada 40,900 (n/a)
6. (5) Stefan Holm Sweden 39,500 (32,749)
7. (7) Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe 27,300 (16,967)
8. (6) Tony Estanguet France  21,700 (19,073)
9. (8) Camiel Eurlings Netherlands 8,419 (5,999)
10. (11) Sergey Bubka Ukraine 5,013 (1,277)
11. (9) Sheikh Tamim Qatar 4,965 (3,545)
12. (10) Alexander Zhukov Russia 2,512 (2,180)
13. (12) Claudia Bokel Germany 1,992 (1,171)
14. (-) Prince Feisal Jordan 1,661 (n/a)
15. (13) James Tomkins Australia 1,160 (875)
16. (14) Barbara Kendall New Zealand 946 (722)
17. (15) Marisol Casado Spain  919 (607)
18. (16) Danka Barteková  Slovakia  511 (275)
19. (17) Pál Schmitt  Hungary 260 (248)
20. (-) Richard Peterkin Saint Lucia 258 (n/a)

It will be noted that a very wide geographic range is covered by this Twitter elite and that eight of the Top 20 are women.

One wonders how many followers Blatter will have accumulated by the time he retires as a full IOC member in two years' time.

His lead is so vast that he seems extremely likely to bow out at the very top.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.