CDS (I) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 119 of 120

Correct — C, P. T. Usha. The nickname belongs to P. T. Usha and comes from Payyoli, the town in Kerala where she grew up — the 'express' half is a tribute to her speed. Her defining moment came at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she finished fourth in the 400 metres hurdles in 55.42 seconds, one hundredth of a second behind the bronze medallist, setting a Commonwealth record in the process; no Indian woman had come that close to an Olympic athletics medal. At the Asian Games she won silver in the 100 metres and 200 metres at New Delhi in 1982 and then four golds at Seoul in 1986 — the 200 metres, 400 metres, 400 metres hurdles and the 4x400 metres relay — with a silver in the 100 metres alongside them. She was born on 27 June 1964 at Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district.

• (a)Hima Das — Hima Das is a sprinter of a much later generation, from Assam, and is known by a different nickname drawn from her own home region.
• (b)Dutee Chand — Dutee Chand is a sprinter from Odisha, again from a later era. She has no connection with Payyoli, which is in Kerala.
• (d)Shiny Abraham — The sharpest distractor here, because Shiny Abraham is also a Kerala middle-distance runner of the same era who ran alongside Usha in Indian relay teams. The Payyoli name, though, is Usha's alone.

P. T. Usha is the dominant figure of Indian women's track and field in the 1980s, competing across sprints, the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles, and later running a coaching school in Kerala. The Los Angeles near-miss is the race by which her career is usually described, but the four golds at the 1986 Asian Games are the fuller measure of her range — she won over 200 metres, 400 metres, the hurdles and the relay at a single Games.

Nicknames drawn from a home town are a small but recurring category in these papers — the pattern is a place plus a word for speed — and the safe way to answer is to fix the place. Payyoli is in Kerala, which immediately separates Usha from the Assam and Odisha sprinters in the list and leaves only the other Kerala athlete to distinguish, and that is done by remembering that Shiny Abraham's own record is in the middle distances. A present-day note worth carrying: Usha's role has since changed. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in July 2022 and was elected President of the Indian Olympic Association in December 2022, the first woman to hold that office — so a current-affairs question may reach her from the administration side rather than the track.

• P. T. Usha is called the 'Payyoli Express' after Payyoli in Kerala, where she grew up.
• She was born on 27 June 1964 at Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala.
• At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics she finished fourth in the 400 metres hurdles in 55.42 seconds, one hundredth of a second behind the bronze medallist.
• At the 1986 Seoul Asian Games she won four golds — 200 m, 400 m, 400 m hurdles and 4x400 m relay — and a silver in the 100 m.
• She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in July 2022 and elected President of the Indian Olympic Association in December 2022.

• Picking the other Kerala athlete of the same generation; the nickname is tied to Usha's town, not to the state.
• Assuming a famous track nickname belongs to a currently active athlete.
• Remembering the Los Angeles race as a medal — it was fourth place by one hundredth of a second.

As a nickname-to-athlete match, or as a question on Indian performances at a particular Olympic or Asian Games.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  At which Olympic Games did P. T. Usha finish fourth in the 400 metres hurdles, missing a bronze by one hundredth of a second?

  • (a)Moscow 1980
  • (b)Los Angeles 1984
  • (c)Seoul 1988
  • (d)Barcelona 1992

  Answer(b) Los Angeles 1984 — she clocked 55.42 seconds and set a Commonwealth record in the process.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  P. T. Usha became the first woman to head which of the following bodies?

  • (a)Sports Authority of India
  • (b)Athletics Federation of India
  • (c)Indian Olympic Association
  • (d)National Anti-Doping Agency

  Answer(c) Indian Olympic Association — she was elected its President in December 2022.