PT Usha set to get elected as IOA chief, first woman occupant of top job

The legendary PT Usha is set to become the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association IOA as she emerged as the lone candidate for the top post for the December 10 electionsThe 58yearold Usha a multiple Asian Games gold medallists and a fourthplace finisher in the 1984 Olympics 400m hurdles final filed her nomination papers for the top job on Sunday along with her team for the various postsThe deadline to file nomination papers for the IOA elections ended on Sunday IOA elections returning officer Umesh Sinha did not receive any nominations on Friday and Saturday but 24 candidates filed nominations for various posts on SundayUsha a top sprinter in her heyday has also been elected as one of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit SOM by the Athletes Commission of the IOA making her an electoral college memberShe will also become the first Olympian and first international medallist to head the IOA in its 95yearold history adding another feather in her cap after dominating Indian and Asian athletics for two decades before retiring in 2000 with a bagful of international medalsUsha is the first sportsperson to have represented the country and also become IOA chief since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh who played a Test match in 1934 Singh was the third IOA president who held office from 1938 to 1960Also readPT Usha set to be elected as Indian Olympic Association chiefThere will be contests for one post of vice president female joint secretary female There were 12 candidates in the fray for four executive council membersThe IOA polls will be held to elect one president one senior vicepresident two vicepresidents one male and one female one treasurer two joint secretaries one male and one female six other Executive Council members out of which two one male and one female shall be from the elected SOMsTwo members of the Executive Council one male and one female will be the Athletes Commission representativesAjay Patel of National Rifle Association of India NRAI is set to be the senior vicepresident as he is also the lone candidate for the postOlympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang is also the only candidate for the post of one male vice president Two candidates Rajlaxmi Singh Deo Alaknanda Ashok have however filed nominations for the lone post of woman vicepresidentIndian Weightlifting Federation president Sahdev Yadav will be elected unopposed as the treasurerAll India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey will be the male joint secretary while there were three candidates Alaknanda Ashok Shalini Thakur Chawla and Suman Kaushik for the lone female joint secretarys postOlympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and archer Dola Banerjee will be the male and female representative of the eight SOMs in the executive councilTwelve candidates have however filed nominations for the remaining four executive council members They are Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan Cyrus Poncha Lt Gen Harpal Singh Bhupender Singh Bajwa Rohit Rajpal Amitabh Sharma Shalini Thakur Chawla Prashant Khushwaha Vitthal Shirgaonkar Parminder Singh Dhindsa Digvijay Chautala and Harjinder SinghThe scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on Tuesday and the valid nominated list will be announced the next day Withdrawal of candidature can be done from December 13 and the final list of candidates will be put up on December 4Usha fondly known as the Payyoli Express is being seen as a candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which had nominated her as a Rajya Sabha member in JulyRecently a similar situation arose in the AIFF when Chaubey a BJP leader from West Bengal and a former goalkeeper entered the fray as surprise candidate in the elections held under the supervision of the Supreme Court and grabbed the top jobUsha is one of the most decorated Indian athletes having won 11 medals including four gold in the Asian Games from 1982 to 1994She won all the four gold in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games 200m 400m 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay and also bagged a silver in the 100mUsha won a 100m and 200m medals in the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games She also won a phenomenal 23 medals including 14 gold in the Asian Championships from 1983 to 1998 collectively in 100m 200m 400m hurdles 4x100m relay and 4x400m relayBut she is most remembered for missing out on a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final where she was beaten by Cristieana Cojocaru of Romania by one hundredth of a secondThe IOA elections are being held under the supervision of SCappointed retired apex court judge L Nageswara Rao under the new constitution prepared by himThe IOA adopted the new constitution on November 10 after getting approval from the international committeeThe 77strong IOA electoral college has nearly 25 per cent former athletes with a host of current and former sportspersons including Olympic medallists P V Sindhu Gagan Narang Sakshi Malik Yogeshwar Dutt and M M SomayaThere are 66 members from 33 National Sports Federations which have nominated one male and one female each eight SOMs four male and four female two from the Athletes Commission one male and one female and a member of International Olympic Committee in India Nita AmbaniThe IOA electoral college also has more women members 39 than male 38This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever