P. T. Usha Quotes

Every day, I get four-five calls from filmmakers across the world. They all want to make a movie on my life and journey, but every time, I say no.

Misery and sorrow, I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I always want to be happy and cheerful.

I used to train on the beach when I went home.

There should ideally be a synthetic track in every district. Athletics is tough, and needs more support.

The biggest problem with the national sports awards in India is that the selection committee which the government appoints every year does not have any real powers.

I think javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has a good chance of winning a medal at the Paris Olympics.

I brought hurdles, all ten of them, to the beach and had my hurdling sessions very close to the water. Those days, I trained on the beach for nearly three months every season with coach Nambiar. I used to run into the water, almost chasing the receding waves, and that was how I built up strength.

U.S. and Russia – both coach their athletes from the grassroots level on and provide scientific training.

There will be no one like me in the history of Olympics, someone who competed in an Olympic final with one international meet.

I have heard some people saying that I continue to run for the sake of money. What is money to me? I have enough of it.

During our time, we used to go to school at the age of six.

After a hard training day, I used to massage myself. That meant recovery was slow.

I have knocked at almost every door, from government offices to private companies, pleading for money and facilities to start my athletics school. It has been a tough mission. But I am thrilled that it is now a reality.

I fear human beings, because we cannot predict the swings of a human being. They are capable of doing anything. I really fear that.

At the 1985 Asian Track and Field meet in Jakarta, where I won five golds and a bronze, I was taken for testing after every race, which reduced my recovery time considerably; otherwise I could have performed even better.

Rather than missing the medal, the overall message from across the Indian contingent was my effort proved that we can win an Olympic medal.

Ours is a country with diversified culture and centuries-old tradition, which have to be preserved at any cost.

My dream is to see an Indian with a gold medal in athletics in the Olympics.

In international meets, like the Olympics and Asian Games, drug tests are mandatory. When everything is in place, then only will the records be ratified. I am not saying that people are taking drugs. Everybody knows what things are going on on the field. I know; everybody knows what’s going on.

After a long day at school, sports will help them rejuvenate their system. Especially in the digital era, where almost every kid uses a smartphone.

After my first track event, sports became my life.

Unlike cricket or tennis, athletics receive no money and so it remains a poor man’s sport.

Our actions, behavior, speech and for that matter anything that we do should strictly comply with our culture.

I believe it’s an honor for me wherever I go in and around the country people still identify me and love me so much.

Nobody talks about my contribution to the sport. Nobody talks about the 101 medals I have won in my 20-year career. Nobody talks about the efforts I made to attain those heights.

Two decades in athletics is a long time in sports.

Records are meant to be broken and they should be broken, but fairly.

All what I aimed for, except the Olympic medal, I achieved. That’s why I want to start the Usha School of Athletics. I missed an Olympic medal, now I want to ensure that one of my students wins one!

‘Khelo’ Games is certainly a good idea. I am happy to see that the government is trying to do something to improve sports at the grass-roots level and that lots of money is being spent on it.

Only God can save Indian sports.

May be someday a movie will be made on my life.

For a sport like javelin throw, only if you’re physically there watching it from up close, will you get the feel of it.

Athletes will get result with training and proper exposure. Money should be spent on them for exposure. We should send them for competitions in Europe.

There are many incidents in which I have seen and experienced cheap politics.

It got injured in 1995 and was operated upon once.

International Amateur Atheletic Federation had selected me in 1985 and 1986 as one of the best eight athletes in the world.

I was shocked after hearing the news of Milkha Singh’s death. He was a great athlete… an inspiring personality.

At the Usha School of Athletics, our sole aim is to earn Olympic gold medals for India.

After winning a medal, many athletes give up and go into oblivion, the reason being lack of encouragement.

Money cannot buy the self-actualization of one’s feelings.

My dad did not want me to take up sport initially, he was worried that I would get injured.

Although I am training 12-year-olds at my School of Athletics, they will hit the track only after three or four years.

During my stay in Pakistan, those people who love sports extended their happiness and good wishes to our Indian side.

The country has to identify and promote raw talent. I have full faith that India will win Olympic gold in athletics sooner than later.

An Olympic medal in athletics is still a dream for India. Milkha Singh is the torchbearer for young athletes to achieve that goal.

If life could come back, if I could roll back the years, I would like to relive my most cherished moment, the Los Angeles Olympics.

When you compete with better athletes, you also get better.

When I was a trainee at Kannur Sports School at the age of 13, my coach Nambiar sir used to tell us a lot of things about Milkha Singh – his achievements, lack of nervousness on the track, and a lot of fun stories about him.

An athlete is responsible whatever she takes – be it food supplement or whatever.

I would like to make it clear that there were no solid offers to train abroad.

If you want to be an engineer, doctor or scientist in today’s world, you need athletic ability in the body and mind.

If you have speed you need not be only in athletics, you can choose any other discipline.

There is no dearth of talent in India, but there is no encouragement and facilities to train.

I come from a middle-class family in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The saddest part of my career has been missing the Olympic medal by one-hundredth of a second.

I was the first athlete in the country to have a personal coach.

Compared to our era, facilities in athletics have increased manifold. But contemporary athletes are not mentally tough. The new generation wants everything easily, but it is not possible in athletics.

In the sports hostel, I would not eat the boiled egg and would store it away in my bag. But eventually, Nambiar sir found out and gave me a yelling. There were so many eggs in my bag and they started smelling.

When sports gets involved with petty politics from authorities and co-athletes, it becomes a nasty game.

Body is a God-gift.

Kerala is doing well because here the kids are encouraged to compete in sports, both by parents and teachers in schools.

If I missed bronze by whisker, it was due to lack of experience.

I had to travel long distances to train on a synthetic track, which added to residual fatigue.

All I can say is that we cannot shut our eyes to Western culture if that is not going to suit ours.

My stride is perfect for 15 steps till I cross the seventh hurdle when I switch to 17 steps.

It’s important for schools to encourage sports.

The 1982 Asian Games champion M.D. Valsamma’s coach gave a statement in the media that if Valsamma had some 15 days training on a synthetic track, she would beat me. I was very interested in the challenge. I kept that paper cutting under my bed and used to read it often.

During the time of Olympics I felt very lonely. Nobody was there at my side, to guide me or attend to my needs. In the Olympic village I had to travel alone up to the mess and competition ground as well as to the practice ground.

I always believe that speed is the essence for any sport.

While I was studying in class V, my school’s PT teacher happened to make me run alongside the current sub-district champion from our school. I came first – that was when my ability was identified.

No one had told us that in L.A. we would get only American food. I had no choice but to eat rice porridge without any nutrition supplement, and that definitely affected my performance in the last 35 meters of my event since I couldn’t sustain the energy level.

Winning the 400 meters gold at the pre-Olympics gave me a little confidence. I thought I could win a medal if I tried.

I was part of the Indian contingent that went to Karachi for an invitational meet, before the Moscow Olympics of 1980 and I was taking B-Complex in liquid form, as advised by Dr. P.M.K. Nambiar, a cardiac specialist based in Kannur.

Without Nambiar sir’s guidance I would not have been able to achieve what I did for the country.

I wanted to give everything that I lacked in my childhood to young children of my village. I had only talent but no scientific training, facilities or infrastructure to help.