THE Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have taken first place in a poll of the top feel-good sporting events of 2014.
The Games topped the YouGov Sports Index rankings - a poll which measures positive interest in events by surveying the public's perception of them.
Glasgow 2014 achieved a peak buzz score of 52.9 - 13.3 more than the second most popular event, the Wimbledon Championships and only 3.9 less than than the score reached by the London 2012 Olympic Games.
David Grevemberg, formerly chief executive of Glasgow 2014, and now chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said: "It's such a fantastic thank you to everyone who put such energy and effort into the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to know that people across the UK ranked us as their number one positive world sporting experience of 2014.
"What a great way to mark exactly six months on from an opening ceremony which launched a festival of sport and culture which people across the Scotland, the UK, Commonwealth and beyond could feel part of.
"Six months on, the athletes of the Commonwealth who competed, the thousands of volunteers and staff who delivered the Games and the people of Glasgow and Scotland who were the warmest of hosts can feel hugely proud of their achievements, the pleasure they shared and the special place they've won in the nation's hearts."
Other events making the top five include the Winter Olympics, The Ryder Cup and the Six Nationals Rugby Championship.
However, surprisingly, the FIFA World Cup only ranked 13th overall with a buzz score of 13.1.
The YouGov report stated: "This reflects that while awareness of the month-long tournament was exceptionally high, there was also a large level of negativity associated with the event, for example the relatively poor performance by England in failing to qualify from the group stage and the Luis Suarez biting incident."
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