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Golden girl goes global again

ALWAYS IN FOCUS: A film on P.T. Usha will be screened in Geneva on Women's Day on Wednesday.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is celebrating the International Women's Day, March 8, in a big way in Geneva. An international film festival on women, a round-table discussion on women in sport, International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Women and Sport Awards, and a photography exhibition on `Women in Sport, Yesterday and Today' are the highlights of the programme.

Sport, in fact, is ILO's focus at this year's Women's Day celebrations. And the organisation needed somebody to represent the world's second most populated country, what if it's not exactly a superpower in sport. "The first name that came to my mind was P.T. Usha," Neelam Agnihotri, Communications and Information Officer for ILO's South Asia Office, told The Hindu over telephone from New Delhi on Tuesday.

Usha would be featured in two programmes in Geneva. A video film, that was shot at Payyoli, Usha's hometown, recently will be shown during the round-table discussion and a photograph of Usha missing a medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by one-hundredth of a second will be on display at the photography exhibition.

"It's an honour for Usha and for the women in India," says Ms. Neelam. "When I was asked to name an Indian who could be featured at the Women's Day celebrations, Usha seemed the obvious choice to me. She means a lot to Indian women even today too. I thought she was also relevant because she started the Usha School of Athletics to train young girls."

Usha says it's an honour that a film on her is being shown at an important international meeting like this. "It's good to know that people from different parts of the world would now learn about my school."

P. K. AJITH KUMAR

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