PT Usha
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Nicknamed the ‘Payyoli Express’, P.T. Usha is one of India – and world athletics’ – most well-known women. The track-and-field legend began training when she was still in school, and at the age of 16 made her debut at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to age and inexperience, Usha was unable to fire at those Games.
She excelled in the years to come, winning a mammoth thirteen gold medals at Asian Track and Field meets and seta number of records in the process. At the 1984 Olympic Games, Usha managed to finish on top in the semi-finals of the hurdles, missing out on a medal by a fraction of a second.
Although she qualified for the 1988 Olympic Games, Usha was unable to replicate her 1984 performance, and remained without an Olympic medal – but remains one of the country’s most extensively decorated athletes.
