Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha on Monday lost the elections to the Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit (SOM) on Monday, dealing a big blow to her aspirations of running for a second term. Usha was an incumbent SOM in the IOA executive body who was then elected as president in 2022.
The result of the SOM election, held online, was announced by returning officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava. Now, it appears IOA is headed for a change of guard and a fresh leadership to take forward the Olympic bid. The defeat means Usha has lost her position in the IOA executive body, with the apex sports body’s polls scheduled to be held on December 5.
“It looks very difficult for her to make a comeback from here, having lost the SOM election,” an IOA executive body member told HT. On Monday, the four SOMs elected were former long jump champion Anju Bobby George, former hockey captain Rani Rampal, ex-archery Olympian Dola Banerjee and badminton ace Saina Nehwal .
Usha and Anitha Paul Durai, a former basketball player, were the other two candidates. Usha finished fifth. It effectively closes the door on Usha’s return to IOA’s top post. If Usha still wishes to contest, she will have to be nominated to the IOA general assembly by a National Sports Federation (NSF), provided she fulfils the criteria as per IOA constitution.
