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Usha bags gold, amidst drama

India finally found gold, but not without high drama, on the final day of the 12th Asian Athletics Championships at Fukuoka, Japan.

The 4x100 meter relay team was happy with its silver and an Indian record of 44.43 seconds, when it was suddenly announced that India had been awarded the gold after the disqualification of China.

Till then, India's fortunes seemed to be limited to the silver as Neelam Singh in discuss for women came second. Later, Gulab Chand in the men's 5,000, and the women's 4X400 relay team, also came in second to increase the haul of silver.

For P T Usha, the 4x100 meter gold was a welcome one after a lot of bronzes. The veteran athlete took back four medals from the meet, winning bronze in the 200 metre and 400 meter, a silver in the 4x400 meter relay and gold in the 4x100 meter relay.

India ended with an overall haul of one gold, three silver and eight bronze.

The day opened with Neelam Singh, leader in the women's discuss when the event was halted last night. She improved from her overnight 56.35 to 56.81, but was overtaken by Yu Xin, with 57.47. Neelam's compatriot Swaranjit came fourth.

Expectations centered around Usha during the afternoon session, but the grand old lady of Indian athletics apparently was feeling the strain of constant competition. After a dream run in the semifinal, she found she couldn't get it back where it mattered, finishing third in the 200 m, behiond China's Yan Jiankui, who won in 23.00 while team-mate Huang Mei came in second in 23.21. Usha clocked 23.27.

In the relay, Usha ran the final lap and in fact got the baton first, but could not hold on to the lead in the 4X400, once again showing that age had robbed her of the staying power and final kick. As it turned out, the Chinese runner went past her to finish on 3:33:48, while India ended second on 3:34:04.

Then came the disqualification, which gave India the gold.

In his event, Gulab Chand ran a superb last lap, but was still edged by double Asian Games gold medallist Toshinan Takaoka. Gulah achieved a personal best of 13:55.40, while Takaoka came in at 13:54.34.