P. T. Usha

Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha (born 27 June 1964) is an Indian sports administrator and retired track and field athlete. Usha was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala. She grew up in Payyoli. Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979.^[6] She has won 4 gold medals and 7 silver medals in the Asian Games. She is often associated as the "Queen of Indian track and field".^[7]

P. T. Usha

Usha in New Delhi, 27 February 2009
Personal information
Birth name	Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha[1]
Nickname(s)	Golden Girl, Payyoli Express[2]
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1964-06-27) 27 June 1964 (age 60) Koothali, Perambra, Kerala, India[3]
Years active	1976–2000[4]
Employer	Indian Railways
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse	V. Srinivasan
Signature
13th President of the Indian Olympic Association
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2022[5]
Preceded by	Narinder Dhruv Batra
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2022
Nominated by	Ram Nath Kovind
Preceded by	M. C. Mary Kom
Constituency	Nominated (Sports)
Personal details
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (2015–present)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event	Sprints
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 m: 11.39 (Jakarta 1985) 200 m: 23.05 (Lucknow 1999) 400 m: 51.61 (Canberra 1985) 400 m hurdles: 55.42 NR (Los Angeles 1984)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  India Asian Games 1986 Seoul 200 m 1986 Seoul 400 m 1986 Seoul 400 m hurdles 1986 Seoul 4x400 m relay 1982 New Delhi 100 m 1982 New Delhi 200 m 1986 Seoul 100 m 1990 Beijing 400 m 1990 Beijing 4x100 m relay 1990 Beijing 4x400 m relay 1994 Hiroshima 4x400 m relay Asian Championships 1983 Kuwait City 400m 1985 Jakarta 100m 1985 Jakarta 200m 1985 Jakarta 400m 1985 Jakarta 400m hurdles 1985 Jakarta 4×400m Relay 1987 Singapore 400m 1987 Singapore 400m hurdles 1987 Singapore 4×400m Relay 1989 New Delhi 200m 1989 New Delhi 400m 1989 New Delhi 400m hurdles 1989 New Delhi 4×400m Relay 1998 Fukuoka 4×100m Relay 1983 Kuwait 200m 1987 Singapore 100m 1987 Singapore 4×100m Relay 1989 New Delhi 100m 1989 New Delhi 200m 1998 Fukuoka 4×400m Relay 1985 Jakarta 4×100m Relay 1998 Fukuoka 200m 1998 Fukuoka 400m

On 6 July 2022, she was nominated as a Member of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind.^[8] In December 2022, Usha was elected president of the Indian Olympic Association unopposed.^[9] In December 2022, she was appointed to the panel of Rajya Sabha vice chairman to control the proceedings of the upper house during the absence of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman.^[10] She is the first nominated MP in history to become the Vice Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.^[11]

Track and field career

In 1976 the Kerala State Government started a Sports division for women in Kannur, and Usha started practising under the guidance of coach O.M Nambiar as one among the forty girl athletes in sports division Kannur. Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha was first noticed in 1977 by O. M. Nambiar, an Indian athletics coach, at a sports prize-distribution ceremony.^[12] In an interview with Rediff.com in 2000, he recalled: "What impressed me at first sight about Usha was her lean shape and fast walking style. I knew she could become a very good sprinter."^[13] The same year, he began coaching her. Quick results followed when she won six medals at the inter-state meet for juniors, in Kollam in 1978, with four gold medals in 100 m, 200 m, 60 m hurdles and high jump, silver in long jump and bronze in 4 x 100 m relay.^[14] In the year's Kerala State college meet, she won 14 medals.^[13] She went on to win multiple medals at the 1979 National Games and 1980 National inter-state meet setting many meet records.^[15] She participated in her first international event at the Qaid-e-Azam invitation meet in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1980, where she won four gold medals.^[16]

At the senior inter-country meeting in Bangalore in 1981, Usha clocked 11.6 seconds in the 100 m and 24.8 seconds in the 200 m setting national records in both.^[14] At the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, she won silver medals in 100 m and 200 m, clocking 11.95 s and 25.32 s. At the 1983 Open National Championships in Jamshedpur, she broke the 200 m national record again clocking 23.9 s, and with 53.6 s, set a new national record in 400 m.^[14] At the Asian Championships in Kuwait City the same year, she won gold in 400 m.^[17]

1984 Los Angeles Olympics

Usha's best moment came at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She entered on the back of a string of good performances at the year's New Delhi inter-state meet and Mumbai Open National Championships. However, poor performances in 100m and 200m at the Moscow World Championships prompted her to concentrate on the 400 m hurdles. At the Olympic trials in Delhi, she beat Asian Champion M. D. Valsamma to qualify for the Games.^[2] At another pre-Olympic trials, she clocked 55.7 seconds beating American top sprinter Judi Brown.^[18] At the Games, she clocked 56.81 s in the heats and 55.94 s in the semi-final, setting a new Commonwealth record as she entered the final. At the final, she came fourth, at 55.42 seconds, falling behind the eventual bronze medalist by 1/100 of a second. This followed after one of her competitors had a false start, which was said to have "broken her rhythm" as "she got off the blocks a bit slower at the restart."^[19]

In the 1985 Jakarta Asian Championships, Usha won six medals — five gold and one bronze. She won the 100 m in 11.64, 200 m in 23.005, 400 m in 52.52, an Asian record, and 400 m hurdles in 56.64, with the final two coming in a span of 35 minutes.^[17] Her fifth gold came in 4 x 400 m relay, and a final bronze in 4 x 100 m. She set a record in the process for most gold medals won at a single event in the history of the championships.^[17] In the first two of her wins, she equalled the Asian record held by Chi Cheng of Taiwan. She went on to better her personal best in 400 m a week later at the 1985 Canberra World Cup, when she clocked 51.61, finishing seventh.^[17] She almost replicated her Jakarta Championships performance at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. She won the 100 metres silver with a time of 11.67 seconds losing the gold to Lydia de Vega. The 200 metres gold came in 23.44, 400 metres gold in 52.16 and 4 x 400 m relay gold in 3:34.58, all of which were new Games records.^[20][14] At the Games, British athletics coach Jim Alford said of her, "Usha is a first class athlete, a tough competitor and a terrific runner to watch. She has all the potential. Given careful guidance, she can be world class."^[20]

I never wanted to be an Olympian. All I wanted was to keep breaking my own record. I never competed to defeat anybody. —P. T. Usha^[21]

Later stage

From 1983–89, Usha garnered 13 golds at ATF meets.^[22] In the 10th Asian Games held at Seoul in 1986, Usha won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal in the track and field events.^[22] She also won five gold medals at the 6th Asian Track and Field Championship in Jakarta in 1985. Her medals at the same meet is a record for a single athlete in a single international meet.^[23]

Currently she is committee head of Indian Talent organization which conducts the National Level Indian Talent Olympiad examinations in schools across India.^[24] Usha retired from her active sports career in 2000.^[25]

Sports administration and political career

Politics

In July 2022, Usha was nominated by President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.^[26] In December 2022, She was appointed as one of the vice-chairpersons of the Rajya Sabha and become the first nominated MP to be in the Vice Chairperson panel.^[11]

Sports administration

Since retiring from her sports career in 2000, Usha had given no inclination of entering sports administration, however, in December 2022, she was elected as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in an election where she ran unopposed.^[27][25] She also became the first woman to be elected president of the IOA.^[27]

Achievements

Usha represented India in 4 x 100 metres relay together with Valdivel Jayalakshmi, Rachita Mistry, and E.B. Shyla at the 1998 Asian Championships in Athletics, where her team won the gold medal, setting a national record of 44.43 s.^[28][29]

Personal life

Usha studied in Providence Women's College in Kozhikode.

Usha married V. Srinivasan, an English inspector with Central Industrial Security Force, in 1991. The couple has a son,^[30] Dr. Vignesh Ujjwal.

Advisor

Currently, she is a member of the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).^[31]

Awards and honours

• Arjuna Award in 1984
• Padma Shri in 1985
• Honorary doctorate (D.Litt) conferred by Kannur University in 2000^[32][33]
• Honorary doctorate (D.Sc) conferred by IIT Kanpur in 2017^[34][35]
• Honorary doctorate (D.Litt) conferred by University of Calicut in 2018^[36]
• IAAF Veteran Pin in 2019^[37]
• Honorary doctorate (D.Litt) conferred by Central University of Kerala in 2023^[38]

Statistics

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Result
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Russia	5th (heats)	100 metres	12.27
1982	Asian Games	New Delhi, India	2nd	100 metres	11.67
			2nd	200 metres	24.32
1983	Asian Championships	Kuwait City, Kuwait	2nd	200 metres	24.68
			1st	400 metres	54.20
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, USA	4th	400 metres hurdles	55.42 AR
			7th	4 × 400 m relay	3:32.49
1985	Asian Championships	Jakarta, Indonesia	1st	100 metres	11.64 AR
			1st	200 metres	23.05 AR
			1st	400 metres	52.62 AR
			1st	400 metres hurdles	56.64
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	45.22
			1st	4 x 400 m relay	3:34.10
	World Cup	Canberra, Australia	7th	400 metres	51.61 AR
			5th	400 metres hurdles	56.35
			8th	4 x 400 m relay	3:37.59
1986	Asian Games	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	100 metres	11.67
			1st	200 metres	23.44 GR
			1st	400 metres	52.16 GR
			1st	400 metres hurdles	56.06 GR
			1st	4 x 400 m relay	3:34.58 GR
1987	Asian Championships	Singapore	2nd	100 metres	11.74
			1st	400 metres	52.31
			1st	400 metres hurdles	56.48
			2nd	4 x 100 m relay	45.49
			1st	4 x 400 m relay	3:34.50
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	DNS[N 1]	400 metres	—
			6th (semifinal)	400 metres hurdles	55.89
			8th (heats)	4 x 400 m relay	3:31.55
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	7th (heats)	400 metre hurdles	59.55
1989	Asian Championships	New Delhi, India	2nd	100 metres	11.74
			1st	200 metres	23.27
			1st	400 metres	51.90
			1st	400 metres hurdles	56.14
			2nd	4 x 100 m relay	44.87
			1st	4 x 400 m relay	3:32.95
1990	Asian Games	Beijing, China	4th	200 metres	24.29
			2nd	400 metres	52.86
			2nd	4 x 100 m relay	44.99
			2nd	4 x 400 m relay	3:38.45
1994	Asian Games	Hiroshima, Japan	4th	200 metres	24.29
			5th	4 x 100 relay
			2nd	4 x 400 m relay	3:33.34
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, USA	DSQ[N 2]	4 x 400 m relay	—
1998	Asian Championships	Fukuoka, Japan	3rd	200 metres	23.27
			3rd	400 metres	52.55
			1st	4 x 100 m relay	44.43
			2nd	4 x 400 m relay	3:34.04
	Asian Games	Bangkok, Thailand	6th	400 metres	54.37
			4th	4 x 100 m relay	44.77

See also

• List of Indian records in athletics
• List of Indian sportswomen
• List of Kerala Olympians
• Usha School of Athletics

Further reading

• Gupta, Indra (2003). India's 50 Most Illustrious Women. Icon Publications. ISBN 8188086037.

Notes

1. P. T. Usha did not start (DNS) in the heats.
2. P. T. Usha was a reserve member of the team which was disqualified (DSQ).