Former athlete PT Usha on Monday accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request to groom and coach the sporting talent in Gujarat. Usha, nicknamed the Payyoli Express, said the invitation from Modi came last year when he was Gujarat’s chief minister.
The 50-year-old sports legend said due to her busy schedule with Common wealth Games and Asiad, she couldn’t devote her time on Gujat’s call.
Modi, who has promised to foster a sporting culture in the country, said this week that the government was signing pacts related to sports expertise with various countries in its bid to provide athletes with better exposure and infrastructure.
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Usha said she would strive hard to realise the PM’s dream of the country winning an Olympic gold in athletics. Her coaching and training mechanism will be similar to the Usha School of Athletics, which she founded in 2002 near her village in Kerala.
Usha’s school has given the country some of its best athletes including Asian silver medallist Tintu Luka who won a 4X400 relay team gold at the Incheon Asiad, Sherbana Siddique and Jessy Joseph. Besides, the school has been winning something like 70 medals at the National level every year.
Usha boasts of a very impressive resume with four gold medals and a silver at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. She narrowly missed on a bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
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