2012 London Summer Olympics

[ Check Out Stunning Pictures from the Opening Ceremony ]

The identity of the mystery woman who had marched alongside the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games was finally revealed on Sunday when her father said from the Indian city of Bangalore that she was part of the dance troupe of show creator Danny Boyle, which had performed on the day.

A mystery woman, dressed in blue jeans and red T-shirt, was seen marching behind India's flag-bearer Sushil Kumar, drawing angry reactions from the Indian contingent, who said she had no business being there.

The acting chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent, PK Muralidharan Raja, submitted a letter the following day to the London Olympic Games Organizing Committee (LOGOC) expressing the concerns of the entire contingent and seeking an apology.

The issue became so big that Games chairman, Sebastian Coe, had to personally intervene and say at a press conference that, "I was told about it. She (the girl) sort of made it into the opening ceremony. There is a very important point to take into consideration here. I don't minimize the fact that she got in the opening ceremony. We will have our own discussion about that."

Reports say that the girl, Madhura Honey, is a post-graduate from Bangalore and was recruited in Boyle's troupe for the opening ceremony. It is a tradition with the Games that no one other than athletes and officials accompanying the contingent can be part of the ceremony that too in their traditional attires.

Coe too agreed that the girl shouldn't have been there.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials were quoted as saying that this was a serious security breach, one which the LOGOC officials could have done without.

However, Madhura's father, K Nagendra, said from Bangalore that his daughter was not an intruder and there was no security breach. "From whatever I learnt and presume that she being an Indian, the LOCOG might have selected her to 'take' the team inside the stadium. This might have hurt our team's feelings," Nagendra was quoted as saying by an Indian news agency.

 

 

Identity of 'Mystery' Woman with Indian Contingent Revealed