London organisers apologise for “mystery” woman incident

The London Games organisers on Monday apologised to the Indian contingent over the issue of an unidentified woman gate crashing into the team’s march past at the Opening Ceremony here on Friday.

Angry at the “mystery” woman’s presence among them during the opening gala, the Indian contingent had shot off a letter to the Games organisers LOCOG who have now apologised over the incident.

“We have received a letter from the London Games organisers apologising over the incident,” according to a source in the Indian contingent.

The woman in red shirt and blue trouser, later identified as Madhura Nagendra, a post-graduate from Bangalore, had caused a flutter during the opening ceremony as she hogged the limelight by walking along with the flagbearer Sushil Kumar and waving to the crowd.

The Indians were understandably agitated that a person who was not part of the delegation was allowed to accompany the team and hog the limelight in the process.

“She had no business to walk with the Indian contingent and we are taking up the issue with the organisers. We don’t know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in. It is a shame that she was with the athletes in the march past,” Indian contingent’s acting Chef-de-Mission Muralidharan Raja had said.

LOCOG Chairman Lord Sebastian Coe had sought to cool down the frayed tempers among the Indians, saying that he would meet with the Indian delegation to discuss the matter.

“I was told about it. She sort of made it into the Opening Ceremony. She was a cast member who clearly got slightly overexcited. She shouldn’t have been there,” Coe said on Sunday.

“There is a very important point to take into consideration here. I don’t minimize the fact that she got in Opening Ceremony. We will have our own discussion about that,” he added.