A Humble Beginning : The Usha School of Athletics

The word ‘Payyoli express’ might ring a few bells but to give an apt idea of what/who im talking about let me put forward a few statistics.

Nicknamed Payyoli Express, this person set a national record in the year 1977 at the age of 13! This feat did raise a few eyebrows but a very ordinary debut at the 1980 Moscow Olympics only undermined this achievement. Maybe this gave the impetus and hence followed a Silver Medal at the New Delhi Asiad in 1982 and a year later, gold at the Asian Track and Field Championship at Kuwait.

Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha better known as P T Usha was undoubtedly one of India’s greatest athletes and rightfully called the ‘Queen of Indian Track and Field’. She became the first ever Indian women to reach the finals of an Olympic event when she won the Semi Finals in the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles.

PT Usha The Legend

She holds the world record for the most gold medals earned by a female in a single track event for the complete sweep in the 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints, the 400 meter hurdles, and the 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1985 Asian Track and Field Championship in Indonesia.

P.T.Usha had become an icon for Indian women athletes and a living legend in Kerala, where streets and newborn babies were regularly named after her.

PT Usha was conferred the Padma Shri and the Arjuna award in the year 1985. She has won 101 International medals till date.

The list of Awards and medals goes on but this article would remain incomplete without the mention of ‘Usha School of Athletics’ started by PT Usha and her friends at Kinalur near Kozhikode. This school was set up in the year 2002 with the sole aim of winning an Olympic Medal for India by training young athletes. A 20 Crore Rupees project, the school, according to Usha, will be the country’s premier institute to train and nurture young talent. The School has twelve students who live and train under the watchful eyes of PT Usha herself based on a preplanned time schedule.

Usha might have fought many battles during her days and setting up this school could not have been any less. The School with its promise of Top Class Infrastructure and Quality equipment has a list of pending projects including sponsorship for the athletes. The association of Laureus Sports Foundation with Usha School of Athletics would add to the much needed support.

The recent grant of Rs 5 Crore by the centre to setup a synthetic track came as heartening news and this track would definitely go a long way in helping the athletes prepare. The now Union Sports Minister Mr. Ajay Maken visited the school on FEB 13^th, 2011 and offered the central assistance of Rs 5 Crore to set up the Synthetic Track.

Speaking on this, Usha said “Ever since I established the school, I had been submitting proposals for a synthetic track which is something an academy like this desperately needs. But somehow nothing materialized, until now,” “I was surprised when Mr. Maken called me up and said that the proposal had been cleared,” she said.

The Minister spent time with Usha’s trainees, including Tintu Luka, who has already made a mark on the international arena. He examined the facilities at the school’s gym and Ayurvedic centre. He also enjoyed a traditional Kerala lunch, which was served to him by Usha herself.

The brilliant performance of U.S.H.A students in the national and state championships, in the infancy of the school itself raises the hope that more and more medals are on the way, culminating in 2012 Olympics and the successive events, a humble beginning and a new lease of hope for the future of Athletics in India.With the expectations and hopes being raised, the 2012 Olympics would be a reckoning to deal with.