Who's that girl? Olympic mystery solved

The identity of a woman who led the Indian team into the Olympic Opening Ceremony has been revealed.

Madhura Nagendra has been named as the woman who caused an uproar, walking into the Olympic Stadium alongside the nation's flag-bearer, Sushil Kumar.

Indian officials and media slammed Nagendra's presence at the front of the contingent, saying she detracted from the athletes' special moment.

While the Indian athletes were wearing predominately yellow and blue, Nagendra stood out in a red jacket and blue pants.

Indian chef de mission Brig P K Muralidharan Raja said organisers told them Nagendra would accompany the team to the track, however she continued to walk with the team around the stadium.

"The Indian contingent was shown for hardly ten seconds in the TV coverage and the entire focus sadly was on this lady, instead of the athletes," Raja told Press Trust of India.

"She had no business to walk in with the Indian contingent and we are taking up the issue with the organisers."

However the woman's father has now come to her defence.

"My daughter Madhura was officially selected for giving a dance performance in the inaugural ceremony by show creator Danny Boyle," K Madhura told the Times of India.

"From whatever I learnt and presume that she being an Indian, the London Olympic Organising Committee might also have selected her to 'take' the team inside the stadium," he said.

"This might have hurt our team's feelings. I feel very sorry for that."

He said his daughter is expected to return to her home in Bangalore.