LONDON — A mysterious woman in red has caused an international incident in the London Olympics.
Indian officials are mystified — and miffed — after an unknown young woman were able to march while using the country’s athletes and officials during the opening ceremony Friday night.
Games organizers on Sunday downplayed security Xbox 360 Controllers concerns about the unscripted moment, saying the interloper was obviously a ceremony cast member together with been screened before entering the Olympic Park.
Images from Friday’s ceremony showed a woman in turquoise jeans and a red jacket marching alongside Indian flag bearer Sushil Kumar on the head on the delegation of 40 athletes in bright yellow and dark blue.
“We are totally dazed,” Indian press atttache Harpal Singh Bedi said. “Just how do a person without accreditation walk past?”
Indian officials said that they no clue who over was. Indian media identified her as Madhura Nagendra, a postgraduate through the southern capital video game accessories of scotland - Bangalore who had been living in London.
Her father, K. Nagendra, was quoted from the Press Trust of India press agency as proclaiming that his daughter was chosen to bop in director Danny Boyle’s ceremony, and speculated that she has been asked by organizers to escort India’s team into your stadium.
“This can have hurt our team’s feelings. I am very sorry for that,” he was quoted as saying.
The mystery woman case dominated Indian media’s coverage from the opening in the games.
“Who’s That Girl?” asked leading page from the Hindustan Times.
“Leaky London: Unaccounted presence in march past,” said a headline in the Times during the India. The newspaper said the mystery woman had “brazenly Xbox 360 Accessories gatecrashed the party, raising security concerns and increasing the anger over India’s blink-and-miss appearance on global TV screens.”
Bedi said India’s acting chef de mission, P.K.M. Raja, had sent games organizers the official letter of complaint.
“I'm sure this really is definitely a burglar lapse,” Bedi said.
But London organizing chief Sebastian Coe insisted at least 18 had not posed a threat to the ceremony. He told reporters she was “a cast member who clearly got slightly over-excited.”
Some 10,000 volunteers performed alongside professional musicians, actors and dancers in Boyle’s spectacular ceremony.
Coe stressed over have been screened to purchase Olympic Stadium so there had been no security breach.
“Don’t try to escape with all the undeniable fact that she walked in off of the street,” Coe said, adding that games officials “should have your own discussions” in regards to the incident.
There were perhaps a little Indian satisfaction in Britain’s perceived lapse, which comes as India is suffering its very own Olympic embarrassment. An Indian court has barred Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi from attending the Xbox 360 Hard Drive London opening ceremony, citing the “national interest.”
Kalmadi is out on bail after working nine months in jail awaiting trial on corruption charges linked to this years Commonwealth Games.
India also was stung by British media criticism on the chaotic preparations for all 2010 games in New Delhi, which were marred by construction delays as well as a budget that ballooned from $412 million to $15 billion.
Bedi said the opening ceremony intrusion would not reflect poorly on India.
“Were too big a country to become embarrassed by it,” he was quoted saying. “It should be an embarrassment for your hosts, not for India.”
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