IIT Kanpur to Confer Doctorate on P.T. Usha
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) will confer a doctorate on P.T. Usha during the 50th convocation ceremony of the institute.
- She took part in 1984 Olympics that were held in London and missed the gold medal by a whisker.
Former sprint queen P.T. Usha will receive Doctor of Science (Doctorate) on June 16, 2017. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) will confer a doctorate on P.T. Usha during the 50th convocation ceremony of the institute. In the year 2002, Kannur University had conferred D.Lit on P.T. Usha. Therefore, this is her second doctorate. She took part in 1984 Olympics that were held in London and missed the gold medal by a whisker.
Director of IIT Kanpur, Prof. Indraneel Varma has written a letter of P.T. Usha indicating that the institute is honouring her with a doctorate in recognition of her pioneer achievements as an athlete in India, key contribution in international and national arena for the promotion of athletes and sports, specifically among women.
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The news came at an opportune time for the former sprinter. Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi will inaugurate her synthetic track stadium through a video conference on June 15, 2017. She felt humbled when she received the letter from IIT Kanpur. She mentioned that recognition from a prestigious institute like IIT Kanpur gives her enough strength to surge ahead. The recognition and support from the institute will help her in achieving the dream of bringing an Olympic athlete medal to the country.
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Recently, P.T. Usha declined an offer from Bollywood to do a biopic on her. Stating reasons for rejection, Usha indicated that she would not do the biopic until India wins a gold medal in Olympics. Currently, Usha is busy in training young athletes eyeing 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She is also running a private sports school in Kozhikode, i.e., Usha School of Athletes.
Usha revealed that the newly built synthetic track would help the budding athletes for international events. She was deeply moved by witnessing the athletes who travel around 30 km for training in the region. Therefore, she made all the possible efforts to bring a synthetic track that will be an advantage to the athletes in the region.