Legendary athlete P.T. Usha has been elected as the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, previously the Union Sports Minister, congratulated the athlete on her election. "Congratulations to legendary Golden Girl, Smt. P.T. Usha on being elected as the President of Indian Olympic Association. I also congratulate all the sporting heroes of our country on becoming the office bearers of the prestigious IOA! A nation is proud of them!," tweeted Mr. Rijiju.
Earlier, Ms. Usha had said that she is filing nomination for the post. "With the warm support of my fellow athletes and National Federations, I am humbled and honoured to accept and file for the nomination of the president of IOA!" PT Usha tweeted on Saturday.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) also retweeted Mr. Rijiju's tweet. The star sprinter Usha is one of the greatest athletes to have ever come out of India and brags four gold medals and seven silvers at the Asian Games. She missed out on a podium finish in the women's 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics by 1/100th of a second. Her timing of 55.42s in LA still holds as a national record.
It may be noted that Ms. PT Usha and music maestro Ilaiyaraaja were among prominent personalties nominated to the Rajya Sabha recently.
