Story of P T Usha

FOR the generation growing up in India in the Eighties, there was nothing as exhilarating and mesmerising than watching P T Usha take off the blocks like a gazelle. Such was the speed, grace and charisma of PT Usha, who notched up five medals in the 1986 Asian Games, including four gold medals.

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Usha, born in Payyoli, Kozhikode district of Kerala, remained the ‘Queen of track and field’ for almost two decades. She was arguably India’s first sports icon, who was an inspiration to people across the nook and corner of India, cutting across gender, generation and professional boundaries.

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Fondly called the ‘Payyoli Express’ for her awesome speed (much before encomiums like ‘Rawalpindi Express’ for Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and ‘Indian Express’ for India’s tennis duo stars of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi came into vogue), Usha became a trend-setter for women in India who took to excelling in sports. She is probably the first Indian sports icon who returned to track and field after taking a hiatus from the sport following her marriage in 1991.

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The ‘Payyoli Express’ hit the limelight as a junior athlete in the National Inter-State Meet at Kollam, Kerala, in 1978. However, her international debut in the 1980 Moscow Olympics proved lacklustre. In the 1982 New Delhi Asiad, Usha bagged a silver medal in the 100m and the 200m, but at the Asian Track and Field Championship in Kuwait a year later, Usha bagged the gold in the 400m with a new Asian record. From 1983-89, Usha notched up 13 gold medals at ATF Meets (later rechristened as Asian Championship).

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Music:
Ross Budgen Music:
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