PT Usha

PT Usha
Full name	Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha
nation	India
birthday	June 27, 1964
place of birth	Payyoli, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
job	trainer
Career
discipline	100 m , 200 m , 400 m , 400 m hurdles , 4 × 100 m , 4 × 400 m
status	resigned
End of career	2000

PT Usha ( Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha ; born June 27, 1964 in Payyoli, Kozhikode , Kerala ) is a former Indian athlete who was a sprinter as a four-time Asian champion. During her active time as a sprinter, she was called Payyoli Express , Udanpari or Golden Girl by her fans .

Career

PT Usha started sprinting as a young student. In 1976 the Kerala District Government established a sports school in Kannur , which was trained by OM Nambiar. Usha was added to the 40-strong squad. In 1979 she took part in the national school championships. She won her individual race and so the attention of Nambiar, who accompanied her as a coach through her entire career.

Usha had her first international appearance in 1980 at an international sports festival in Karachi , Pakistan , where she celebrated four victories. In the same year she took part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . She competed over 100 and 200 m, but was eliminated early on as 6th or 7th of their prelims. In 1982, she won the 200-meter race at the World Junior Invitation Meeting in Seoul (the forerunner of the World Junior Athletics Championships ) and won a bronze medal over 100 m. At the Asian Games in New Delhi , she won silver medals in the 100 and 200 m.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles , PT Usha improved. She made it to the final over 400 meter hurdles without any problems. Here she took 4th place and with 55.42 s only missed a medal by 1/100 of a second. It would have been the first Indian Olympic medal in athletics. The time also meant an Asian record, which is still valid today. She also reached the Olympic final with the 400-meter relay. The quartet finally took 7th place.

1985 and 1986 were PT Usha's most successful years. In 1985 she triumphed five times at the athletics meeting in Djakarta , Indonesia . To date, this is the highest number of victories by an athlete at an international sporting event. At the Asian Games a year later in Seoul, she was able to win four gold medals (200 m, 400 m, 400 m hurdles, 4 × 400 m) and one silver medal (100 m). Usha made her World Cup debut at the World Athletics Championships in Rome in 1987 . She took on over 400 meter hurdles, but was eliminated as 6th of her semi-final run.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , Usha was handicapped by a heel injury. Nevertheless, she took on the 400 m hurdles for her country, but was eliminated in the lead-up with a time of 59.55 s, which is indisputable for her. A year later she was back on top form at an international meeting in New Delhi, winning four races and finishing second twice. Usha thought about resigning, but was persuaded to take part in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing , where she won three silver medals.

In 1991 the sprinter married V. Srinivasan and took some time off. The following year son Ujjwal was born. In 1994 she made her surprising comeback at the Asian Games and helped the 400-meter relay to another silver medal. One final highlight was the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta , but it was not used. In 2000 she resigned from competitive sports.

After the career

PT Usha, who completed training as a civil servant at a railway company, now works as a trainer. She runs a training academy for young athletes in Kerala.

Awards

• Arjuna Award 1984 (Indian National Prize)
• Padma Shri 1984 (Indian Government Award)
• 1986 Adidas gold shoe for best female athlete at the Asian Games in Seoul
• Kerala Sports Journalists Award 1999

Best times

• 100 meters: 11.39 s (September 26, 1985 in Djakarta)
• 200 meters: 23.25 s (September 13, 1999 in Lucknow )
• 400 meters: 51.61 s (October 6, 1985 in Canberra )
• 400 meter hurdles: 55.42 s (August 8, 1984 in Los Angeles)

Web links

• PT Usha in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Website of the Usha School of Athletics (Engl.)

Footnotes

1. ↑ Olympic results PT Ushas (Eng.)
2. ↑ Best times recorded at the IAAF