A Glittering Career

1978: National inter-state meet, February 1 to 5, Kollam:
100m - 13.3 seconds - Finished I  
200m - 27.4s - I
60m hurdles - 10.3s - I
Long jump - 4.92m - II;
High jump - 1.35m - I;
4 x 100m relay - 53.2s - III (all in the junior section).

1979: XXV National Games, February 17 to 22, Hyderabad:
100m - 12.5s, New Meet Record (NMR) - I;
200m - 26.1s - II;
80m hurdles - 12.2s, NMR - I;
4 x 100m relay - 51.2s - II (all in the under-16 section.)

1980: National inter-state meet, February 10 to 14, Hissar:
100m - 12.4s, NMR - I;
200m - 25.3s, NMR - I;
80m hurdles - 12.1s, NMR - I;
4 x 100m relay - 51.7s - II (girls);
100m - 12.1s - II;
4 x 100m relay - 49.4s - I.

1981: National inter-state meet, February 11 to 15, Bangalore:
100m - 11.8s - New National Record (NNR);
200m - 24.7s (24.6s in heats, NNR);
4 x 100m relay - 49.4s - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:50.9, NMR - I.

Open Nationals, October 23 to 25, Lucknow:
100m - 12.0s - I;
200m - 24.8, NMR - I;
4 x 100m relay - 48.4s, NMR - I.

AAFI International meet, November 8, Pune:
100m - 12.0s - I;
200m - 24.9s - I.

AAFI International meet, November 12, Hissar:
100m - 11.9s - I.

AAFI International meet, November 15, Ludhiana:
100m - 11.9s - I;
200m - 24.6s - I.

1982: National inter-state meet, January 27 to 31, Kozhikode:
100m - 11.9s - I; 200m - 24.8s - I; 4 x
100m relay - I. 4 x 400m relay - I.

1983: National inter-state meet, January 29 to February 2, Calcutta:
200m - 24.8s - I.

Open Nationals, September 30 to October 2, Jamshedpur:
100m - 11.8s, NMR - I;
200m - 23.9s, NNR - I;
400m - 53.6s, NNR - I.

1984: National inter-state meet, April 27 to 30, New Delhi:
100m - 11.7s, NMR - I;
200m - 23.7s, NMR - I;
400m - 52.6s, NMR - I;
4 x 100m relay: 46.5s, NMR - I.

Open Nationals, May 25 to 27, Mumbai:
100m - 11.8s, EMR - I;
200m - 24.1s - I;
400m hurdles - 58.5s, NMR - I;
4x 400m relay - 3:56.3 - I.

1985: Open Nationals, May 3 to 5, Thiruvananthapuram:
100m - 11.8s - I (11.6s heats, NMR);
400m - 52.9s - I;
400m hurdles - 56.8s, NMR - I;
4 x 100m relay - 47.5s, NMR - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:46.2 NMR - I.

Playmakers International meet, August 15, 16, New Delhi:
400m - 52.2s - I;
400m hurdles - 56.0s - I.

National Games, November 19 to 26, New Delhi:
100m - 11.7s - I;
400m - 52.8s - I;
400m hurdles - 57.5s - I.

1986: National inter-state meet, March 7 to 9, Agartala:
400m - 53.7s - I;
400m hurdles - 57.9s - I;
4 x 100m relay - 46.8s - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:47.7 - I.

Open Nationals, August 12 to 14, New Delhi:
100m - 11.5s, NMR - I;
200m - 23.2s, NMR - I.

1987: Open Nationals, May 7 to 10, Mangalore:
200m - 24.3s - I;
400m - 54.3s - I;
4 x 100m relay - 47.3 - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:53.5 - I.

National inter-state meet, May 19 to 21, Ranchi:
400m - 53.9s - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:57.0

IAAF International meet, September 14 to 16, New Delhi:
400m: 52.6s - I;
400m hurdles: 56.46s – I

SAF Games, November, Calcutta:
200m - 24.14s, NMR - I;
400m - 53.42s, NMR - I;
400m hurdles - 57.18s - I;
4 x 100m relay - 46.53s, NMR - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:41.65, NMR - I.

1988: National inter-state meet, February 28 to March 1, Jabalpur:
100m - 11.8s - I;
200m - 24.7s - I;
4 x 100m relay - 48.0 - I;
4 x 400m relay - 3:48.5.

1989: National inter-State meet, March 24 to 26, Guntur:
100m - 11.7s - I;
200m - 24.1s - I;
4 x 400m relay -3:50.3 – I

Open Nationals, September 1 to 3, Chennai:
100m - 11.98s - I;
400m - 52.9s - I;
4 x 100m relay - 47.1s - I.

Escorts Masters meet, September 9, 10, Thiruvananthapuram:
100m - 11.8s - I;
400m hurdles - 58.3s - I.

1995: SAF Games, December, Chennai:
200m - 24.12s – III.

Inter-state meet, December 2 to 5, 1995, Chennai:
200m - 24.1s - II;
4 x 100m relay - 47.3s – II.

1996: Federation Cup, September 5 to 9, Pune:
100m - 11.5s - I;
200m - 23.3s - I;
400m - 53.3s - I;
4 x 100m: 49.0 - II.

1997: National Games, May 31 to June 11, 1997, Bangalore:
4 x 100m relay - 46.61s, NMR - I.

1998: Independence Gold Cup circuit meet, June 20, Hyderabad:
100 - 11.55s - I.

1999: Federation Cup, August 7 to 9, Bangalore:
200m - 23.3s - I.

AAFI circuit meet, September 7 and 8, Mumbai:
100m - 11.95s - I;
200m - 23.68s - I.

SAF Games, October, Kathmandu:
100m - 11.43s - II;
200m - 23.38 - II;
4 x 100m relay: 44.64s - I.

Raja Bhalindra Singh international meet, October 15, New Delhi:
200m - 24.10s - I.

Open Nationals, October, Bhopal: 100m - 11.7s - I;
200m - 23.63 - I;
4 x 100m relay - 47.07s - I.

International games:

Olympics:

1980: Moscow: Eliminated in the opening round of 100m.

1984: Los Angeles: Fourth in 400m hurdles, 55.42s, part of 4x400m relay team which finished seventh and last.

1988: Seoul: Eliminated in the opening round of the 400m hurdles.

1996: Atlanta: Reserve member of 4x400m relay team which was disqualified in the first round.

Asian Games:

1982: New Delhi: Second in the 100m (11.95s) behind Lydia de Vega of the Philippines, second in 200m (24.32s) behind Japanese Hiromi Isozaki.

1986: Seoul: Second in the 100m (11.67s) behind Lydia de Vega; first in 200m (23.44s), first in 400m (52.16s), first in 400m hurdles (56.06s), part of the gold-winning 4x400m relay team

1990: Beijing: Fourth in the 200m (24.29s), second in 400m (52.86m) behind Li Guilian of China; part of silver-winning relay teams in 4x100m and 4x400m.

1994: Hiroshima: Fourth in the 200m (24.29s), part of the fifth-placed 4x100m relay team and silver-winning 4x400m relay team.

1998: Bangkok: Sixth in the 400m (54.37s), part of the fourth-placed 4x100m relay team, excluded from 4x400m relay team.

Asian track and field championships:

1983: Kuwait: Second in the 200m (24.68s) behind Lydia de Vega; first in 400m (54.20s), Lydia third.

1985: Jakarta: First in the 100m (11.64s) beating Lydia de Vega for the first time, first in 200m (23.05s), first in 400m (52.62s), first in 400m hurdles (56.64s), part of bronze winning 4x100m and gold-winning 4x400m relay teams.

1987: Singapore: Second in the 100m (11.74s) behind Lydia de Vega, first in 400m (52.31s), first in 400m hurdles (56.48s), part of the silver-winning 4x100m and gold-winning 4x400m relay teams.

1989: New Delhi: Second in the 100m (11.74s) behind Zhang Caihua of China, first in 200m (23.27s), first in 400m (51.90s), first in 400m hurdles (56,14s), part of silver-winning 4x100m and gold-winning 4x400m relay teams.

1998: Fukuoka: Third in the 200m (23.27s) behind Chinese Yan Jiankui and Huang Mei, third in 400m (52,55s) behind Damayanthi Darsha of Sri Lanka and Svetlana Bodritskaya of Kazakhstan, part of the gold-winning 4x100m and silver-winning 4x400m relay teams.

Awards:

Padma Shri in 1984
Arjuna Award in 1984
Best athlete of Asia: 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1989
World trophy for the best athlete of Asia in 1984 and 1986
Marshal Tito award for the best railway sportsperson in 1984, 1985, 1989 and 1990
Best sportwoman of the century by the Indian Olympic Association in 2000


 - Golden Girl
 - 'I retire as a sad athlete'      |    Usha in Real Audio
- 'I am proud she achieved her goals at such a young age'
- 'If I am wellknown today, it is all because of Usha'