CAMPUS EVENTS CULTURE ADVENTURE ‘I DON’T WANT TO VISIT DELHI’

...says former athlete PT Usha, as she feels that increasing pollution can affect an athlete’s stamina

One of the most celebrated sports personalities, former Indian athlete PT Usha’s love for Delhi has diminished over the years, owing to pollution in the city.

“I came to Delhi in 1979 for my practice sessions. I fell in love with the place. But now I don’t want to visit the Capital as it’s full of pollution,” says Usha, who is training children for the upcoming 2020 Olympics. Usha was recently, in the Capital for an event, where she became nostalgic about how the city has changed since the ’90s. “Travelling in the city was fun in the ’90s, but now, it’s a task! It’s worse for runners, as pollution can affect their stamina,” she says. Usha, who lost a bronze medal by 1/100th of a second in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, feels that the athletes these days have better facilities. “During my time, winners bagged medals all by themselves without support or facilities. Today, there are schemes to promote sportspersons and authorities are also supportive. The facilities are much better. If the same were provided to us, we, too, could have won gold medals in Olympics,” she says.

When we pointed out that India has been participating in Olympics for over two decades now but is yet to win a gold medal in athletics, she says, “When we lose in Asian Games or Olympics, we get disheartened. We forget the training aspect. We can’t skip other competitive races, and participate only in Olympics. The competitive races are a great training ground and are important for success in Olympic-level races, too.”