P T Usha becomes first woman president of IOA

P T Usha, the legendary former athlete has been elected as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday. P T Usha was the lone contender and was elected after no other nominations were filed till the deadline day, November 27. The elections were due to be held in the month of December.

Usha is now the first woman to occupy the top job at IOA in its 95-year history and she is also the first Olympic winner and international medalist to take over the top post. 

Taking to Twitter, the legendary Golden girl thanked her team for their constant support and unconditional trust. On Saturday, P T Usha took to Twitter to announce that she is filing her nomination for the post of president at IOA. She wrote, “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!” 

One of India’s greatest athletes, P T Usha is a star sprinter who bagged four medals and seven silvers at the Asian Games. Her timing of 55.42s in LA still holds as a national record. At the 1984 Olympics, she missed out on a podium finish in the women’s 400m hurdles category by 1/100th of a second 

In the 1985 Jakarta Asian Championships, P T Usha won 6 medals- five Gold and one Bronze. From 1983-1989, she bagged 13 gold medals at ATF meets. In 1986, in the 10th Asian Games held at Seoul, South Korea, she won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal in the track and field events. 

Earlier this year, she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.

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