On 10 December 2022, Legendary athlete PT Usha was elected as the First Woman President of the Indian Olympic Association(IOA).
A gold medalist at the Asian Games and fourth in the 400m final at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 58 years old Usha was elected unopposed for the top post in the polls. The election was conducted under the supervision of retired Supreme Court-nominated SC Justice L Nageswara Rao.
PT Usha tweeted on her official Twitter account:
Thank you for all the messages of support and good wishes. Looking forward to the times ahead! 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/TRlbonoNpQ
— P.T. USHA (@PTUshaOfficial) December 10, 2022
Usha emerged as a lone candidate as no one was ready to fight against Usha, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in July 2022.
Besides Usha, Ajay Patel of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) was elected unopposed as the president. Olympic medalist Gagan Narang and Indian rower Rajlaxmi Singh Deo were elected vice president unopposed.
Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) President Sahdev Yadav has been appointed as the Treasurer. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey was elected unopposed as secretary (male).
Alaknanda Ashok of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was elected joint secretary (women) after winning the three-way battle. Shalini Thakur Chawla and Suman Kaushik are also in the fray.