Mystery lady rains on India's parade
Source: Agencies |
July 30, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A WOMAN who gatecrashed India's parade at the Olympic opening ceremony was a member of the cast from the extravaganza but should not have been with the athletes, London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said yesterday.
Indian officials were incensed by her unauthorized presence alongside flag-bearing wrestler Sushil Kumar on Friday, wearing red and blue in complete contrast to female members of the contingent who were sporting yellow saris and blue blazers.
"She made it into the opening ceremony. She obviously should not have been there," Coe said. "I can now confirm that she was a cast member. She was slightly over excited."
The apparent lack of security angered the Indian Olympic Association.
"How did they allow her in? It was a security lapse. Nobody knows who she was. She looks like an Indian," IOA vice president Tarlochan Singh said.
"She walked along in the front line. Her dress was totally different. She was not wearing an identity card. This should have been noticed at an earlier stage, but nobody bothered."
The lavish opening ceremony, which included hundreds of cast members and was hailed around the world as a success, was watched by a packed 60,000-strong crowd in the Olympic stadium.
Indian news websites said the woman was a postgraduate student from Bangalore.
Security concerns dogged the run up to the Games with the British government having to draft in thousands of troops to help guard Olympic venues after private contractor G4S said it could not supply enough staff.
"This was bizarre. We will ask for an apology," acting Indian chef de mission PKM Raja was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper.
"The Indian contingent was shown for just 10 seconds and to think this lady hogged all the limelight."
"We don't know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in. It is a shame that she was walking with our athletes," he said. "I can't say that (if it was a security breach) as she was in a sanitized zone.
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