#5 P.T. Usha in Los Angeles, USA, 1984
Trending
Finishing first in her semifinal race P.T Usha raised hope for a podium finish in ‘Women’s 400 m hurdles’, an event which was introduced in 1984 L.A. Olympics for the first time. But she lost the bronze medal by 1/100th of a second clocking 55.42 secs behind Romania’s Cristieana Cojocaru who clocked 55.41 secs. This actually is still the closest finish by an Indian athlete in an international event.
The ‘Payyoli Express’ started superbly but one of the challengers false-started and then Usha kind of lost her rhythm. Many considered the race to be a repeat of Milkha Singh's 1960 defeat in terms of an Indian finishing fourth and being deprived of a medal by a whisker. Nawal El Moutawakel a close friend of Usha from Morocco who won the gold and became the first female Olympic champion of a Muslim nation.
"That day as much as I was happy for myself, I was sad for her (P.T. Usha) because we come from countries where athletics is not that big. When she came fourth, I cried so hard. I really wanted her to be on the podium. I wanted to win but I also wanted her to win along with me," Moutawakel said about Usha at Laureus World Sports Awards 2011.
