India’s Olympic athletes abuzz about mystery woman

Associated Press

LONDON

A mysterious woman in red has caused an international incident at the London Olympics.

Indian officials are mystified — and miffed — after an unknown young woman managed to march with the country’s athletes and officials during the opening ceremony Friday night.

Games organizers Sunday downplayed security concerns around the unscripted moment, saying the interloper was a ceremony cast member and had been screened before entering Olympic Park.

Images from Friday’s ceremony showed a young woman in turquoise jeans and a red jacket marching alongside Indian flag bearer Sushil Kumar at the head of the delegation of 40 athletes in bright yellow and navy blue.

“We are totally dazed,” Indian press atttache Harpal Singh Bedi said. “How can a person without any accreditation walk past?”

Indian officials said they had no idea who the woman was. Indian media identified her as Madhura Nagendra, a graduate student from the southern city of Bangalore who had been living in London.

Her father, K. Nagendra, was quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency as saying that his daughter had been chosen to dance in director Danny Boyle’s ceremony and speculated that she might have been asked by organizers to escort India’s team into the stadium.