• Legendary sprinter P.T. Usha was elected as the first woman president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

• The 58-year-old Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth place finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final, was  elected unopposed for the top post in the polls.

• Usha 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 1960. 

• The elections were held under the supervision of Supreme Court-appointed retired SC judge L. Nageswara Rao.

• The elevation of Usha to the top job marked an end to the long drawn crisis in the faction-ridden IOA, which was warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if elections are not held this month.

• Ajay Patel of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was elected unopposed as senior vice-president.

• Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang and Rowing Federation of India president Rajlaxmi Singh Deo were elected unopposed as vice presidents.

• Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) president Sahdev Yadav was elected the treasurer. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey has been elected unopposed as the joint secretary (male). 

Who is P.T. Usha?

• Usha is one of the most decorated Indian athletes, having won 11 medals, including four gold in the Asian Games from 1982 to 1994.

• She won all four gold in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games — 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay — and also bagged a silver in the 100m.

• Usha 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 relay.

• But 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 second.

• Born in Kerala, Usha was conferred the Padma Shri in 1985.

• Fondly known as ‘Payyoli Express’, she was nominated to Rajya Sabha in July.

Indian Olympic Association

• India first participated in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris. The country was represented by Norman Pritchard, an Anglo-Indian who was holidaying in Paris during that time.

• The seeds for creation of an organisation for coordinating the Olympic movement in India was related to India’s participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics, when Sir Dorabji Tata suggested the need for a sports body at national level for promoting Olympic sport in India. 

• After the 1920 Games, the committee sending the team to these Games met, and, on the advice of Sir Dorabji Tata, invited Dr. A.G. Noehren (Physical Education Director of YMCA India) to also join them. 

• Subsequently, in 1923-24, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was set up, which organised the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) in February 1924.

• Eight athletes from these Games were selected to represent India at the 1924 Paris Summer Olympics, accompanied by manager Harry Crowe Buck. 

• This gave impetus to the development and institutionalization of sports in India, and, in 1927, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was formed, with Sir Dorabji Tata as its founding president and Dr. A.G. Noehren as secretary. 

• Over the years, the IOA undertook wider outreach with several National Sports Federations, and became a governance body that coordinated the sending of multiple sports teams – each selected by their respective National Sports Federations – to the Olympic Games. 

• The IOA is the governing body for the Olympic movement and the Commonwealth Games in India. 

• As an affiliated member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the IOA administers various aspects of sports governance and athletes’ welfare in the country. 

• In this regard, the IOA oversees the representation of athletes or teams participating in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international multi-sport competitions of IOC, CGF, OCA and ANOC. 

• The Indian Olympic Association is recognised by the ministry of youth affairs and sports.

• The previous election of the IOA was held in December 2017.

• The working of the Executive Council is also assisted by different Standing Committees of the IOA that are constituted with experts in the subject-field to help in various aspects of governance.

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