It would be silly to equate a popularity of sportsman or woman with amount of Instagram followers he/she has.
Silly – but we will nonetheless.
Because how else is to gauge the said popularity across the board? Generation Z is in love with Snapchat and VSCO while Gen X seem to prefer FB and/or Twitter. Where do they all meet? On Instagram with its one billion+ subscribers.
And as to why is it important – here’s just one piece of data that should remove any need for further explanations: 44% of young folks of Gen Z indicated that Instagram influences their shopping decisions. With Millennials it falls to 21% but nobody would dispute it’s still huge.
We have looked at the Instagram accounts of world’s top skiers – and those who spend considerable amount of their time on narrow skis ( case in point: Nour Keyrouz, Lebanon’s XCski champ, successful model and TV celebrity)
Minimum amount of Insta followers to qualify was arbitrary set at 5000. Less than that – and you don’t get a mention in this review, sorry
Here are the top Ski Instagramers in their respective countries
France:
Lucas Chanavat 8k https://www.instagram.com/lucaschanavat
Canada:
Alex Harvey 22k https://www.instagram.com/alx_rv/
USA:
Jessie Diggins 95k https://www.instagram.com/jessiediggins/
Kikkan Randall 38k https://www.instagram.com/kikkanimal/
Sadie Bjornsen 12k https://www.instagram.com/sbjornsen/
Austria:
Teresa Stadlober 5k https://www.instagram.com/teresa.stadlober/
Germany:
Steffi Boehler 6k https://www.instagram.com/steffiboehler/
Laura Gimmler 5k https://www.instagram.com/lauragimmler/
Switzerland:
Dario Cologna 67K https://www.instagram.com/dariocologna/
Laurien van der Graaff 8K https://www.instagram.com/laurienvdg/
Italy
Alica Canclini 32K https://www.instagram.com/alicecanclini/
Federico Pellegrino 28K https://www.instagram.com/chiccopelle/
Ilaria Debertolis 9K https://www.instagram.com/ilariadebertolis/
Finland
Iivo Niskanen 50K https://www.instagram.com/iivoniskanen/
Krista Parmakoski 36K https://www.instagram.com/kristaparmakoski/
Kerttu Niskanen 25K https://www.instagram.com/kerttuniskanen/
Russia
Alexander Legkov 89K https://www.instagram.com/alexanderlegkov/
Sergei Ustiugov 64k https://www.instagram.com/sergei86m/
Denis Spitsov 29K https://www.instagram.com/spitsov_ds/
Sweden
Charlotte Kalla 190K https://www.instagram.com/kalla_87/
Stina Nilsson 87 https://www.instagram.com/stinanilssoons/
Marcus Hellner 62 https://www.instagram.com/mhellner/
Norway:
Petter Northug 449K https://www.instagram.com/jantelov1/
Therese Johaug 360K https://www.instagram.com/johaugtherese/
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo 296K https://www.instagram.com/johanneshk/
Rest of the World
Nour Keyrouz Lebanon’s Cross Country Ski Champion 42k https://www.instagram.com/nourkeirouz/
Conclusions:
– Norway proves once again that its stars are household names at home and abroad. Northug is the King – he beats not only every other skier but every biathlete ( best: Martin Fourcade with 371K followers) too.
– Charlotte Kalla is “almost Norwegian” and the only one clearing 100K treshhold outside Team Norge
– Instagram is not only about one’s results – but also about dedication to social media, quality of photos/videos and, yes, one’s good looks too. Just ask Alice Canclini who’s amount of followers quickly surpassed that of the Italian World champ Federico Pellegrino and keeps on growing fast.