‘Mr Bean’ most tweeted during London Olympics opening ceremony

The most interesting part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony was not who lit the cauldron, nor even the Queen’s acting debut, it was Mr Bean, according to Twitter users. Rowan Atkinson’s cameo performance sparked the biggest spike in mentions of the event on the website. The comic actor appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, playing a single note on the piano during a rendition of Chariots of Fire. London 2012 is the first Games to see Twitter play a major role, with the Olympics mentioned by more than 10 million users since Friday’s ceremony. Lizzie Armitstead, the British cyclist, gained new followers at a rate of 500 per second after winning silver in the women’s road race yesterday, with more than 25,000 following her less than an hour later. Andrew Fitzgerald, Twitter’s manager of editorial programming, said: “The biggest spike in Twitter conversation during the Opening Ceremony? When Rowan Atkinson, a.k.a. Mr Bean, appeared in a hilariously memorable homage to the Olympians of Chariots of Fire.”