Legendary track and field athlete PT Usha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. PT Usha was among the four to be nominated to the Upper House of the Parliament. (More Sports News)
“The remarkable PT Usha Ji is an inspiration for every Indian. Her accomplishments in sports are widely known but equally commendable is her work to mentor budding athletes over the last several years. Congratulations to her on being nominated to the Rajya Sabha,” PM Modi tweeted.
Known as the ‘Queen of Indian track and field’, PT Usha will be best remembered for her show at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The lady from Kerala lost a historic bronze medal in 400m hurdles when Cristieana Cojacaru of Romania beat her by 1/100th of a second.
However, that didn’t stop her as went on to set herself as one of the biggest names in the track and field arena by winning six medals – five gold and a bronze – at the Asian Championships in Jakarta a year later. PT Usha was awarded the Padma Shri in 1985.
After retirement, PT Usha shifted her focus on earthing new talents in her academy known as Usha School of Athletics in Balussery, Kerala. PT Usha is married to kabbadi player V Sreenivasan.
Twelve members are nominated by the President to the Rajya Sabha for a term of six years. These nominees, who have made significant achievements in the field of arts, science and literature, are selected on the advice of the Prime Minister.
