Rio 2016 celebrations on YouTube

The Olympic Games Rio 2016 have yet to commence, but for sports fans the world over, the excitement is already well underway. In the last 12 months, over 23,000 years of content have been watched on YouTube for the four most popular Olympic Games’ sports alone - athletics, gymnastics, diving and swimming, and volleyball. To put this in perspective, that's the equivalent of watching all 17 days of the Olympic Games, 24 hours a day, not once, but over half a million times. Nearly two thirds of that viewership has happened on mobile devices -- and even more in countries like the U.S., U.K. and Japan.

As the miles continue to rack up on the Olympic torch, viewership on YouTube continues to rack up as well. To help make that viewership experience even richer, we have partnered with broadcasters in more than 60 countries, including the BBC (U.K.), America Movil (Latin America excluding Brazil), NHK (Japan) and many others. These partners will bring official highlights from the Games on YouTube to make sure you can keep up with the most breath-taking moments. We will also link these official broadcasters’ highlights directly into Google Search and YouTube Watch Cards for Rio 2016.

And if you want to experience Rio and the environment surrounding the Games through the eyes of some of your favorite creators, 15 of them will be on the ground bringing you the best of Rio. Creators such as Liza Koshy, Brodie Smith, Ben Brown, Caeli, Chloe Morello, and Felipe Castanhari will provide an on-the scene view of the celebrations in Rio, everything from their own commentary of the Games’ celebrations, from the first victory to the last defeat, to long days around Rio on bike rides and aerial tours. These creators will take advantage of our brand new mobile live streaming feature to share real-time moments from Brazil as they unfold, as well as 360-degree videos that will make fans feel like they are on the streets of Copacabana.

But it’s not just creators and broadcasters getting into the action. Brands are already uploading ads celebrating the athletes, culture, and passion around the Olympic Games–and viewers are taking notice. From April 2016 through June 2016, ads from Worldwide and National Olympic Partners have already received the equivalent of over 400 years worth of watch time. Here’s a look at a few of the top ads so far: “Always #LikeAGirl - Keep Playing,” Minute Maid's "#doinggood | See What U.S. Olympian Missy Franklin Has To Say," Samsung’s “The Chant,” P&G’s “Thank You, Mom - Strong,” and Visa’s “The Carpool To Rio.”

From epic wins to all-star performances, YouTube will bring you the best from Rio, before, during and after the Games through official broadcaster channels and celebration via content creators.

Christoph Heimes, Head of News and Sports Partnerships, EMEA, recently watched “Gillette: Perfect Isn't Pretty.”