Happily, even today, some things continue with the regularity of clockwork - and one of these is our eagerly-awaited annual ranking of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) top Tweeters.

Indeed, in a year in which far too many things started to fall apart, a glance at our Top 40 table reveals that the IOC Twittersphere has been an island of relative stability.

For one thing Pau Gasol Sáez, the Spanish dual Olympic silver medal-winning basketball player, remains at the top of the pile - as one feels he is probably destined to for as long as he remains an IOC member.

Not only that, he has the exact same number of followers - just the 7.2 million - as he had a year ago.

The bulk of the Top Ten also retains a familiar look.

There is one noteworthy newcomer, however, in the shape of the multi-medal-winning French biathlete Martin Fourcade.

Fourcade crashes into the rankings just above Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, at number seven.

His arrival is part of a pronounced French assault on our table.

Also new, in 29th spot, is the Frenchman, David Lappartient, President of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

With Guy Drut clinging onto his Top 40 place with the tenacity he used to display while hurdling, the host nation of the next Summer Olympic Games now has three Tweeters among the Top 40.

With the Slovakian shooter Danka Barteková making her return to the IOC and our listing, Europe has far more representatives than any other continent, with 18.

Men outnumber women by 22 to 18.

To my amazement, I realise that this is the 10th time we have published our annual IOC Tweeters' table.

To mark this noteworthy occasion, it seems fitting to include the roll of honour from our first decade.

Over this period, the number of followers required to make the Top 20 IOC Tweeters has risen from 62 to 18,400.

Elon Musk should be pleased.

And to think it all started with a Tweet by Beckie Scott, the Canadian former IOC member, announcing she was "moving in to the 21st century".