‘Faith, destiny and hardwork’: PT Usha’s tweet after taking over IOA presidency wins hearts

A new regime, headed by legendary sprinter PT Usha, formally took control of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) earlier this month. She won unopposed in an election which was marred by allegations of rigging and government interference by the past office-bearers who were voted out of power after ruling the country's premier sports body for decades.


With this, Usha has become the first woman president of the IOA in the sports body's 95-year-long history. Usha is also the first Olympian and an international medallist to head the national Olympic committee, which went to polls on December 10.


Fondly known as the 'Payyoli Express', Usha is also the first sportsperson to have played for the country at the highest level and also become the IOA chief since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, who featured in a cricket Test match in 1934. Usha retired in 2000 after dominating the Indian and Asian athletics for close to two decades.

After presiding over IOA, PT Usha took to her official Twitter handle to tweet a post marking the beginning of her new journey as an administrator.


"Riding the wave of faith, destiny and hardwork I have come this far and I am now ready to commence a new journey!" she tweeted.

Along with the text, Usha posted a photo, where she can be seen standing in front of a panel that mentions the names of all the presidents to lead the IOA since its inception in 1927. Interestingly, Dorabji Tata was the first ever president of IOA.

Congratulatory tweets poured in from Usha’s fans and sport enthusiasts, who hailed the election of a sportswoman as IOA president.



Some users resorted to sarcasm to highlight how finally a right candidate is heading IOA.

“Suresh Kalmadi was the president of IOA for 16 years after winning 29 golds in Olympics beating Phelps’ record. No wonder, things have changed and we are only looking upwards in sports,” quipped a user.