London Olympics 2012, Diary: Olympic gatecrasher now hogs limelight in virtual world

Madhura Nagendra`s 15 minutes of fame may be over after she gatecrashed into the Indian Olympic contingent`s march-past at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics

London: Her 15 minutes of fame may be over after she gatecrashed into the Indian Olympic contingent`s march-past at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, but the digital avatar of Bangalore girl Madhura Nagendra is taking a new life altogether in the virtual world after her images inserted in various historic events went viral on the internet.

From being beside American astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon to peeping behind Barack Obama taking the presidential oath, images of Madhura are splashed all over the net and are a raging hit on the social networking sites. If in one of the pictures she stands beaming behind the newly-wed British royals Harry and Kate in their official wedding picture, in the other she is seen peeping out from the audience gallery during Jawaharlal Nehru`s inaugural speech as the prime minister of India. Madhura, who is back in the British capital, regretted the incident and apologised for hurting the sentiments of those concerned. Dressed in a red shirt and blue trousers, Madhura was seen walking with the Indian contingent in the march-past alongside Beijing Games bronze-medallist wrester Sushil Kumar during the opening ceremony. Michael Phelps -- the most mentioned Olympian on Twitter American Michael Phelps who created history by becoming the first male swimmer to win the same event at three successive Olympics when he clinched the men`s 200 metres individual medley gold medal, also became the most mentioned Olympian on micro-blogging site Twitter. Phelps has been the Twitter star of the Games to-date with most hits, closely followed by British diver Thomas Daley and compatriot and world champion swimmer Ryan Lochte. "While the gold medal in the Twitter-mentions contest goes to Phelps, the silver medal winner is Tom Daley and Ryan Lochte earns the bronze," Twitter said in a blog-post titled "Celebrating Olympic Accomplishments". The London Games have been dubbed the first social media Olympics, and Twitter has played a key role grabbing headlines although for wrong reasons. Among other things, Twitter use has been blamed for overloaded networks, and led to player-expulsions and at least one arrest. "The past few days have been full of captivating, historic Olympics moments. As records are shattered and dreams achieved, the world has turned to Twitter to come together in celebration," Twitter said in its blog post. Sweet temptations from London confectioners As the frenzy around the Olympics grips London, city confectioners are getting creative linking their products to the Games and raking in the moolah. For these entrepreneurs, what comes first is a celebration of "Britishness" with a little sport thrown in for good measure. The Biscuiteers, known for their handmade biscuits have come up with the "Sports Tin" -- full of handmade sport-themed cookies -- the perfect accompaniment for the hot brewing tea/coffee as one watches the Olympic drama unfold. IANS