1984 Olympics Special Interview PT Usha: It is a bitter-sweet memory, I nearly won the bronze

I have several fond memories from the four Olympics that I competed in and a few others that I have been to over the last four decades as a coach and then as an observer.

And now I am going to attend another Olympics as the president of the Indian Olympic Association. I am very much looking forward to Paris.

People still talk about my 400m hurdles final in Los Angeles in 1984. For me it is a bitter-sweet memory. I nearly won the bronze; I missed it by one hundredth of a second.

Yes, it was a great moment for Indian athletics, especially at a time when an Olympic medal seemed a distant dream. But I was devastated that I couldn’t get a medal despite coming so close.

I was confident of my medal chances, despite the fact that I had boarded the flight to the United States after running in just two 400m hurdles races. I had done well in the heats and then the semifinals. India was expecting a lot from me, especially after the disappointment in hockey: we had failed to qualify for the semifinals.

There was a lot of media focus on me, but that didn’t matter. When I run, I forget everything else.

I was also part of the 4x400m relay team, along with Shiny Wilson, M. D. Valsamma and Vandana Rao. We reached the final and came up with a fine show, too. I believe that was our finest ever relay team.

Members of the 4×400 Indian relay squad that made the finals in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, Vandana Rao (left), Shiny Abraham and P.T. Usha with coach Nambiar.
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THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Right from my first Olympics in Moscow, when I was just 16, I have enjoyed the experience of staying in the Olympics Village. I remember getting tense about finding my way back to my apartment, as all of them looked similar. And by the time I reached there, I often found that the Indian food was no longer available.

It was not just the Indians, athletes from other countries also would come to enjoy our food. So I would have to eat something that I was not used to and as a result I had an upset stomach on a few occasions. The most abiding memory from the village at the Los Angeles Olympics also has got something to do with food. My entry to the 400 hurdles final had attracted the attention of foreign athletes and coaches as well.

One of those coaches — I think he was French — came up to me and asked me what the secret of my sprint was. I told him jokingly that the secret was the tender mango pickle that I had brought from home. So he ate the pickle along with some rice.

Being European, his stomach couldn’t bear such Indian spice and I remember him running around the dining hall in great discomfort. He had to eat curd and icecream to lessen the effect of the pickle. After that, whenever we met, he would tell me that the secret of my sprint was indeed remarkable.

Another thing that I remember from Los Angeles is my surprising recovery from a knee injury. The hydrotherapy using a cycle suggested by a physiotherapist there proved miraculous for me. My pain — one that troubled me for a long time — was gone in just two days. It was a big relief mentally, too: I felt free after the pain went away. That also made me realise the kind of facilities foreign athletes had. We had not even heard of something like that in India then.

I consider myself fortunate that I could be part of so many Olympics. It is gratifying to note that I am going through the whole cycle as an athlete at the Olympics.

I began my Olympic journey in Moscow as a teenager whose only aim was not to finish last in her races, and I didn’t. I went as a coach, as an observer and now as an administrator. As the IOA president, I am happy that I have been able to make a difference to our athletes in their preparations. And I believe we can improve on our fine show in Tokyo.

As told to P. K. Ajith Kumar

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