London Olympics 2012: 'Mystery woman' was selected for a dance show, says father

Father of Madhura Nagendra, the mysterious woman, who gatecrashed into the Indian Olympic contingent's march past at the Opening Ceremony, on Sunday claimed that his daughter was officially selected for a dance performance by show creator Danny Boyle.

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Dressed in red shirt and blue trouser, Madhura was seen leading the Indian contingent in the march past alongside Beijing Games bronze medallist Sushil Kumar during the Opening ceremony and her unwanted presence has left the Indians fuming as they had no clue as to who she was. She was later identified though and media reports soon became a rage. (Read story here)

However, her father K Nagendra said she was not an intruder and there was no security breach and also apologised for the controversial incident.

"My daughter Madhura was officially selected for giving a dance performance in the inaugural ceremony by show creator Danny Boyle," Madhura's father K Nagendra said here.

Nagendra said his daughter was practising dance for past many months with all participants selected to perform at the Opening ceremony.

"From whatever I learnt and presume that she being an Indian, the London Olympics Organising Committee might also have selected her to 'take' the team inside the stadium. This might have hurt our team's feelings. I feel very sorry for that," Nagendra said.

Nagendra said there was no security breach by her daughter as nobody can enter the stadium without security clearance.

Nagendra also said that he was also given passes to watch the show. "I returned yesterday from London and my daughter would reach Bangalore in next couple of days," he added.

Madhura is a post-graduate student and studied in Christ College in Bangalore. She is also a good dancer, according to her neighbour Yashodha Ramprasad, who stays at Banshankari area.

Understandably agitated by the incident, India's acting Chef-de-Mission P K Muralidharan Raja had shot off a letter on this embarrassing issue to the London Games organisers last night in protest against the incident.

The Indians have fielded 81 athletes, the largest ever in the history of the Games, but only 40 athletes and around 11 officials participated in the parade at the opening ceremony, which showcased Great Britain's rich heritage combined with dazzling fireworks and stunning visual effects.