NEW DELHI: Legendary athlete PT Usha, who had the full backing of the Union government, has been elected as president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The Indian sporting icon was the only candidate for the post. The elevation of Usha to the top post makes her the first female athlete to head the IOA.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, previously the Union Sports Minister, pre-empted the official declaration, which is to be made on December 10, congratulating the athlete on her election via his official Twitter handle.
“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!,” Rijiju tweeted.
Sports Authority of India (SAI) also retweeted Rijiju’s tweet.
“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!” Usha had tweeted on Saturday while filing her nomination papers.
Ajay H Patel will be named the senior vice-president and Sahdev Yadav the treasurer of IOA as no one else filed their nominations for these important positions either.
London Olympics Bronze medal winner Gagan Narang will also be elected unopposed as a vice-president.
All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey is through as joint secretary as he is the sole male candidate for the post.
However, there will be competition for the post of the second vice-president, which has to be a woman, Tribune India reports. There are two candidates for this post — Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo and Alaknanda Ashok.
In fact, Rajlaxmi’s nomination was an unexpected stumbling block for the Usha panel, which has the support of the Union government. The move forced Alaknanda to file her nomination for the post of female joint secretary as well, the daily further reports.
However, Alaknanda’s last-hour entry in the fray has made it a contest of three among the women as Shalini Thakur Chawla and Suman Kaushik have also filed their papers.
However, it is expected that Shalini will withdraw her papers by the last date for withdrawal, December 3.
There are 14 candidates for the post of six executive council members, and prominent among them are Shiva Kesavan, Rohit Rajpal, Dola Banerjee, Yogeshwar Dutt and Cyrus Poncha.
The star sprinter is one of the greatest athletes to have ever come out of India, having won 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.
