Huge cheers welcomed the 81-member Indian contingent into the Olympic Park on Friday night during the opening ceremony of the London Games.
However, the presence of an unidentified lady beside flag bearer Sushil Kumar marred the proceedings. A young lady in red shirt and blue trousers was seen leading the Indian contingent in the march past.
An unidentified woman (encircled) walks beside flag bearer Sushil Kumar during the opening ceremony
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Acting chef de mission of the Indian contingent P K Muralidharan Raja was miffed that a person who was not part of the delegation was allowed to accompany the team and hog the limelight in the process.
“She had no business to walk with the Indian contingent and we are taking up the issue with the organisers. We don’t know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in. It is a shame that she was with the athletes in the march past,” Raja told PTI.
“We were initially told that she would accompany the contingent till the track but she went on to take the entire lap. There was another man also, but he stayed back and did not enter the stadium. We have taken strong exception to this,” Raja added.
Raja rued that the lady’s presence had created a flutter. “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,” he said.u00a0
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