Bengaluru: She cannot say for sure whether the medal jinx would be broken but Indian sprint legend P.T. Usha feels Indian athletes – especially Tintu Luka, Lalita Babar and Sudha Singh – stand a good chance of making the finals of their respective events in next month’s Olympics.
“In athletics, we cannot say who will win a medal. Participation itself is good. Tintu Luka, Lalita Babar and Sudha Singh, stand a good chance of qualifying for finals, only thing they have to do is better their performance,” Usha said in Bengaluru.
Usha was in the city for an athletics meeting, the Shreeram Properties Grand Prix, which was held at the Sree Kanteervava Stadium in Bengaluru.
Tintu, Sudha and Lalita have qualified for Rio in 800 metres, 100 metres dash, and 3000 metres steeplechase, respectively.
Usha, who finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Olympics and missed the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second, hoped the exposure in international competitions would help Tintu strike form in Rio.
Usha also said that the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams also stand a good chance of making the finals but they have to better their previous performances.
“Even in the triple jump, the performance has been good.I can’t say who is going to win the medal, it is all luck,” he said.
Usha also congratulated Dutee Chand for qualifying. “If Dutee clocks 11.21 seconds in 100 metres dash, she will be able to qualify for semi-finals, and her best has been 11.26 seconds,” Usha said.
“I don’t want to put pressure on her. First of all, qualifying for 100 metres itself is a big achievement. If she is able to clock 11.21 seconds, then she will qualify for semi-finals. I think her best is 11.26 seconds,” she said.
Asked whether Dutee has sought advise from her on speed endurance, Usha said she has already spoken to her. “I feel she is not talking to most of the people. She is very reserved type, but before going to Europe circuit, I met her and told her if you go for Europe circuit you should qualify. If you don’t qualify then stay in your room. When she qualified, I congratulated her,” she said.
“This time a huge number of Indian athletes have qualified for Rio. They should try to better their performance, then we can really say we are doing good,” she said.
