#3 PT Usha
Nicknamed the ‘Payyoli Express,’ PT Usha failed to make an impact at her first Olympic appearance at the 1980 Moscow Games. However subsequently, she burst onto the scene with her winning effort at the 1982 Delhi Asian Games wherein she claimed the silver in both the 100 and 200-metre races.
The very next year, she set a new Asian record in the 400-metres at the Asian Track and Field Championships in Kuwait and brought home her first gold medal. In her second Olympic outing at Los Angeles in 1984, she missed out on the bronze medal in the 400-metre hurdles by the skin of her teeth falling short by 1/100th of a second. Coming back stronger than ever at the 1985 Jakarta Asian Track and Field Championships, she won a record six gold medals, the most by any athlete in an international meet.
The next year at the Asian Games in Seoul, the talented runner returned with a haul of 4 golds and 1 silver medal. In the 1998 Asian Championships, she was part of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team which set a new national record of 44.43 seconds.
The ‘Golden Girl’ of Indian athletics won a total of 101 international medals in a stellar career spanning 15 years and as a recognition of her achievements was awarded the Padma Shri award.
