Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president candidate and legendary sprinter PT Usha entered the race on Saturday.
PT Usha Enters the IOA Ring to Compete for President’s Position
In order to let everyone know that she has submitted her paperwork for the top position in the IOA elections later this month, the 58-year-old went to social media.
Usha posted a tweet in which she stated, “With the warm support of my fellow athletes and National Federations, I am humbled and honored to accept and file for the Nomination of the President Of IOA!
Usha is one of eight athletes of exceptional merit (SOMs) chosen by the newly-elected Athletes Commission to cast a ballot in the December 10 election for the current executive committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling), M.M. Somaya (hockey), Rohit Rajpal (tennis), Akhil Kumar (boxing), Suma Shirur (shooting), Aparna Popat (badminton), and Dola Banerjee make up the other seven SOMs (archery).
According to the IOA’s new constitution, the eight SOMs, who will have seats in the General Assembly and the ability to vote, will be made up of four men and four women. In accordance with the Supreme Court’s mandate, the IOA has already given its approval to the Constitution.
Pilavullakandi Thekkeraparambil Usha is a former track and field athlete from India. She was born in Kerala’s Kuttali, Kozhikode. Since 1979, she has been connected to Indian athletics. She has garnered 7 Silver and 4 Asian Gold medals. The “Queen of Indian track and field” is a common moniker for her. She was proposed to the Rajya Sabha on July 6, 2022, by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
At a ceremony to award sporting prizes, O. M. Nambiar, an athletics coach, was the first person to discover Usha in 1977.
He said in an interview with Rediff.com from the year 2000: “Usha immediately caught my attention with her thin figure and quick gait. She had the potential to excel as a sprinter, I knew.”
He started training her that same year. She won six medals in the junior inter-state competition in Kollam in 1978, including four golds in the 100 m, 200 m, 60 m hurdles, and high jump. She also won silver in the long jump and bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay. She garnered 14 medals in the Kerala State College Meet that year. She continued on to win more medals at the 1980 National Inter-State Meet and the 1979 National Games, breaking numerous meet records.