INDIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION - SPORTS
News: P.T.
Usha becomes first woman Indian Olympic Association president
What's in the news?
● Ushering
in a new era in the country's sports administration, the legendary P.T. Usha was on December 10 elected as the
first woman president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Key takeaways:
● The
58-year-old Ms.Usha, a multiple Asian Games gold medallist and fourth-place
finisher in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 400m hurdles final, was declared
unopposed for the top post in the polls.
● The
elections were held under the supervision
of Supreme Court-appointed retired SC judge L Nageswara Rao.
● Ms.
Usha, fondly known as the 'Payyoli
Express', also became the first Olympian and first international medallist
to head the IOA in its 95-year-old history, adding another feather in her cap
after dominating Indian and Asian athletics for two decades before retiring in
2000 with a bagful of international medals.
● Ms.
Usha is the first sportsperson to have represented the country and also become
IOA chief since Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, who played a Test match in 1934.
Singh was the third IOA president who held office from 1938 to 1960.
Olympics in India:
● India first participated
in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris.
● The
nation was represented by Norman Pritchard, an Anglo Indian who was vacationing
in Paris during that period.
● The
roots for the creation of an organization for harmonizing the Olympic movement
in India were associated with India’s participation in the 1920 and 1924
Olympics.
● Sir Dorabji Tata
recommended the need for a Sports body at the National level for encouraging
Olympic sports in united India.
● After
the 1920 Games, the Council sending the team to these Games met, and, under the
guidance of Sir Dorabji Tata, invited Dr A.G. Noehren (Physical Education
Director of YMCA India) to also join them.
About Indian Olympic Association:
Backdrop:
● Subsequently,
in 1923-24, an interim All India Olympic Committee was set up, which classified
the All India Olympic Games in February
1924.
● Eight
athletes from these Games were chosen to symbolize India at the 1924 Paris
Summer Olympics, accompanied by manager Harry Crowe Buck.
● This
gave momentum to the development and institutionalization of sports in India,
and, in 1927, the Indian Olympic
Association (IOA) was formed, with Sir Dorabji Tata as its founding President
and Dr. A.G. Noehren as Secretary.
● The
exact year it was formed, 1927, the Indian Olympic Association was officially
acknowledged by the International Olympic Committee.
Indian Olympic Association:
● Indian
Olympic Association (IOA) was established in 1927 as a Non-Profit Organization under Societies Registration Act, 1860.
● It is an autonomous body
recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Functions:
● Responsible
for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and
other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams at these
events.
● It
also acts as the Indian Commonwealth Games Association, responsible for
selecting athletes to represent India at the Commonwealth Games.