On Tuesday afternoon, The Hindu office in Kozhikode had some visitors. Two of them had won medals for India at a major international meet a few days ago, and another remains the greatest athlete this country has ever produced. Tintu Luka, Jisna Mathew and their legendary coach P.T. Usha drove straight to The Hindu office from the Calicut airport after arriving from Wuhan, China, where the Asian Athletics Championship was held. “My association with The Hindu goes back to many decades,” said Usha. “I have followed the news on sports, especially athletics, always through The Hindu . I have also been to the The Hindu office in Chennai, where I had released the changed format of Sportstar magazine sometime ago,”she said.
Sixteen-year-old Jisna, who is one of the biggest hopes in Indian athletics, was amused when she found the old picture of a very young Tintu. She also enjoyed going through the pictures of a younger Usha. She was a member of the 4x400m relay team that won the silver medal at Wuhan. Tintu was also on that team; she had also won the gold medal in the 800m. Their coach is understandably proud of their achievements at Wuhan.
“It is nice to see my wards from the Usha School of Athletics excelling in international meets,” Usha said. “It is their performances that keep the school going against heavy odds.”
