Rajya Sabha Chairman lauds PT Usha for becoming 1st woman chief of Indian Olympic Association

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday lauded athletics legend and Upper House's member PT Usha on becoming the first woman and an Olympian to be the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOC), saying "her contributions are bound to be inspiring and motivating".

"I take this opportunity to congratulate a distinguished member of this August House Shrimati P.T. Usha ji on becoming the first woman and an Olympian to be the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOC) on December 10, 2022. She needs no introduction," said Dhankhar while addressing the Upper House soon after it assembled for the day at 11 am.

An Olympian of international repute, Dhankhar said, PT Usha was also the first Indian woman to enter the Olympic finals in Los Angeles in 1984 at the age of 20.

"In the following years, she set so far unsurpassed a record of five Gold medals in the Asian Championship in Jakarta," said the Chairman.

"An Arjuna and a Padma Shri awardee, Shrimati P.T. Usha is currently acting in promoting sports and sports education. Honourable members, Shrimati P.T. Usha ji both as President of the Indian Olympic Association and member of this august House contribute to the sustenance of sports and a friendly ecosystem for the country. Her contributions are bound to be inspiring and motivating," Dhankar added.

Former Indian athlete PT Usha became the new chief of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday (December 10), as well as its first woman president.

The 58-year-old Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha - for short - is recognised as a phenom in Indian athletics and came onto the scene during the 1980s. Later, she became active as a coach and member of sports administration and was nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2022 by the central government.

Born in a small village near Payyoli, Kerala, PT Usha burst onto the national scene, winning multiple medals and setting records in the 1979 national games and the 1980 national inter-state meet. Her performances earned her a call-up to the Indian contingent for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. At the age of just 16 years, she became the youngest sprinter to ever represent India on the biggest stage for track and field athletes.

In 1981, PT Usha set national records for both 100m and 200m sprints. At the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, she fully entered the nation's imagination as she scored silver medals in both the 100m and 200m races. In 1983, she would break her own 200m record and set a new 400m national record.

By the time the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984 arrived, PT Usha had already become Indian athletics' poster child with expectations to bring Olympic glory to a country that had last won only one Olympic medal in individual sports thus far.

In the 1985 Asian Championships in Jakarta, she won six medals, including five golds, setting a record for most medals in a single Asian Championships. She won another four medals at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. In the 1990s she struggled with a recurrent knee problem, and the 'Queen of Indian Athletics' finally hung up her boots in 2000. Overall, Usha won 23 medals in the Asian track and field events from the 1980s; 14 were gold.

( With inputs from ANI )

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