PT Usha becomes Indian Olympic Association’s first woman president

India’s iconic track and field star PT Usha was elected unopposed as the first woman president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday. 

The IOA executive committee elections, which had an electoral college of 77 members including PT Usha, were supervised by retired Supreme Court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao.

PT Usha emerged as the lone contender for the top job after filing her nomination papers last month and her victory at the IOA elections was a mere formality.

Apart from being the first woman president of the IOA in its 95-year history, PT Usha is also the first Olympian to be appointed as IOA president.

“Through the experiences of my journey I know very well the value of this post,” PT Usha said. “I feel the pain of an athlete, and that of a coach. Above all, about the role of a true admin.

“I look forward to upholding the Olympic values and working with national and international sporting federations to ensure India propels forward in our quest of being a global sporting powerhouse!” PT Usha added.

PT Usha is one of India’s most successful track and field athletes. She boasts four gold medals and seven silvers at the Asian Games. PT Usha missed out on an Olympic medal at the Los Angeles 1984 by a fraction of a second. Her timing of 55.42s in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles Olympics still stands as India’s national record.

On the administrative front, PT Usha was serving as the chairperson of the junior selection committee in the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) before the IOA elections. 

Ajay Patel of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was elected unopposed as senior vice-president.

Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang and Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo were elected unopposed as vice-presidents. Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Sahdev Yadav will be the treasurer.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey was elected unopposed as the joint secretary (male) while Alaknanda Ashok of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the new joint secretary (female).

Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and archer Dola Banerjee will be in the executive council (EC) as male and female representatives of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM). They were selected in the EC by IOA’s athletes’ commission.

Apart from Yogeshwar Dutt and Dola Banerjee, the executive council includes Wushu Association of India’s Bhupender Singh Bajwa, former tennis player Rohit Rajpal, Amitabh Sharma and Harpal Singh.