(CNN) -- A mystery woman gatecrashed India's contingent as it marched into the Olympic Stadium during the Parade of Nations segment of the Opening Ceremony, leaving the country's Olympics officials fuming Sunday.
"She had no business to walk in with the Indian contingent, and we are taking up the issue with the organizers," Brig. P K Muralidharan Raja, the acting chef de mission of the contingent, told the Press Trust of India on Sunday.
"We don't know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in."
Viewers around the world spotted the woman, dressed in a red hoodie and turquoise pants, walking next to the flag bearer, wrestler Sushil Kumar, during the ceremony on Friday night.
Gymnastics, basketball and swimming headline Sunday at Olympics
She looked out of place among the 40 athletes and 11 officials marching under the Indian flag. The men were dressed in blue blazers and yellow turbans, the women in yellow sarees. All had ID tags around their necks, except her.
Sebastian Coe, the chair of the London organizing committee, told reporters Sunday she could have been a performer, but she should not have been in the parade.
The committee is investigating the incident, it said in a statement.
"The Indian contingent was shown for hardly 10 seconds in the TV coverage, and the entire focus sadly was on this lady instead of the athletes," Raja told PTI, a cooperative of Indian news agencies.
He added the contingent has taken "strong exception" and is surprised how she "could just intrude into the tracks."
The South Asian nation of 1.2 billion is fielding 84 athletes in 13 sports including hockey, table tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, shooting and badminton, as well as 58 officials.
Post a Comment