PT Usha nominated for IAAF's Veteran Pin
New Delhi: India's track and field legend PT Usha has been nominated for the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) 'Veteran Pin' for her outstanding service to the sport.
Usha is one of the greatest sprinters to have come out of India and is often called the "queen of track and field". She won five gold medals -- 100m, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and the 4x400m relay -- besides a bronze in the 1985 Asian Games which were held in Jakarta.
"We are delighted that you have been nominated by your Area Association as a recipient of the IAAF Veteran Pin for your long and meritorious service to the cause of World Athletics," the IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon informed Usha in a letter.
He also extended an invitation to the 55-year-old to attend the award ceremony during the opening of the 52nd IAAF Congress in Qatar in September.
"It is my pleasure to invite you to participate in the award ceremony which will take place during the opening ceremony of the 52nd IAAF Congress at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha on eve of Sepetmber 24."
Usha's most memorable performance came in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where she became the first Indian to reach the finals of the 400m hurdles, but lost the bronze by one-hundredth of a second.
She took to Twitter to thank the world body.
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Sri Lanka recovers 87 bodies from Iranian warship sunk off its coast by US submarine
Colombo (AP): A US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's navy said Wednesday it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
The Iranian vessel that was sunk in the Indian Ocean was the Islamic Republic's “prize ship,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. Hegseth said it was the first sinking of an enemy ship with a torpedo by the US since World War II.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that its navy received information that the IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking. The island nation sent ships and air force planes on a rescue mission, he said.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship and “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water.”
He said the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital in the seaside town of Galle on the Sri Lanka's southern coast. The bodies recovered were being brought to land, he said.
Dr Anil Jasinghe, a top health ministry official, said one of those rescued is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are being treated for minor injuries.
The IRIS Dena — one of Iran's newest warships — is a Moudge-class frigate that patrols in deep water for the Iranian navy. It is armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It also carries one helicopter.
The frigate was the centerpiece of a two-ship international tour in 2023 that included port calls in countries including South Africa and Brazil. It was accompanied by the support ship IRIS Makran, a converted oil tanker.
The US Treasury Department included both ships on a sanctions designation in February 2023 along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied the weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said US Adm Brad Cooper, who leads the American military's Central Command.
“We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy,” he said in a video message.
