Legendary sprinter P T Usha becomes first woman president of IOA

P T Usha will be the first woman president of the Indian Olympic Association in its 95-year history and the first Olympian and an international medalist to head the national Olympics committee

P T Usha, the legendary former athlete has been elected as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday. P T Usha was the lone contender and was elected after no other nominations were filed till the deadline day, November 27. The elections were due to be held in the month of December.

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who was previously the Union Sports Minister congratulated the former athlete on her election.

Usha is now the first woman to occupy the top job at IOA in its 95-year history and she is also the first olympic winner and international medalist to take over the top post.

"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!," tweeted Rijiju.

Taking to Twitter, the legendary Golden girl thanked her team for their constant support and unconditional trust. On Saturday, P T Usha took to Twitter to announce that she is filing her nomination for the post of the president at IOA. She wrote, "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!"

One of India's greatest athletes, P T Usha is a star sprinter who bagged four medals and seven silvers at the Asian Games. Her timing of 55.42s in LA still holds as a national record. At the 1984 Olympics, she missed out on a podium finish in the women's 400m hurdles category by 1/100th of a second

In the 1985 Jakarta Asian Championships, P T Usha won 6 medals- five Gold and one Bronze. From 1983-1989, she bagged 13 gold medals at ATF meets. In 1986, in the 10th Asian Games held at Seoul, South Korea , she won 4 gold medals and 1 silver medal in the track and field events.

Earlier this year, she was elected as a Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha. 

(With inputs from agencies)