India's flag bearer Sushil Kumar holds the national flag as he leads the contingent in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium July 27, 2012. The woman in red and blue dress, walking close to Kumar does not belong to the Indian contingent. — Reuters LONDON – 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 Sunday. Indian officials were incensed by her unauthorized presence alongside flag-bearing wrestler Sushil Kumar 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 told a news conference. “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.” India's Deccan Chronicle identified the woman as Madhura Honey from Bangalore. Coe stressed the woman had been screened to get into Olympic Stadium so there had been no security breach. “Don't run away with the idea that she walked in off the street,” Coe says. Coe said games officials “will have our own discussions” about the incident. India has fielded an Olympic contingent of 81 athletes with hopes of bettering its Beijing Games tally of one gold and two bronze medals. — Agencies
