New Delhi, Sep 9: Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha is not interested in putting a number on India's medal expectations at the Asian Games 2026, but the legendary athlete is confident that the country's 503-member contingent is heading to Japan better prepared and better supported than ever before.
India will send 269 men and 234 women across 36 sports and disciplines at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with the country looking to build on its landmark performance at the previous edition in Hangzhou, where it crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time, 107 to be precise.
Yet Usha believes the focus should not be on counting medals before the competition begins. "I don't want to count the medals, how many we are going to get, but I am
hoping. I have a lot of confidence in our players because this time the preparation is done well," Usha told myKhel after the official send-off ceremony of the Indian contingent.
The IOA president pointed to the support being extended to athletes by the national federations, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the government, while also highlighting the role of the IOA and its support staff in preparing the contingent.
"The association has done very much for the athletes and the government is fully supporting. Whatever the players want, we are supporting and IOA is fully athlete-centric and fully for athletes," she said.
"We provided whatever they asked for, for the supporting staff, everything, and good experts are there. Because of that, the players are also confident. "
For Usha, that support structure has created an environment in which athletes can travel to Japan's Aichi-Nagoya with fewer distractions and concentrate on the one thing that ultimately matters.
"They should focus on their event and try their best. Then it will be a good performance and we can be proud of it," she said.
Tight turnaround not a concern
With the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow having concluded only around a month and a half before the Asian Games, questions have been raised about whether athletes have had enough time to recover, train and peak again.
Usha, however, does not see the compressed calendar as a major concern. "That and all, it is not an issue because you have to have the competition also," she said.
Training in isolation, according to the former Asian Games champion, is not enough preparation for elite competition. The Glasgow experience could instead serve as an important competitive build-up for the athletes heading to Japan.
"When you do training, it's not only training. It will not help for the participation," Usha said.
She believes the athletes' performances in Glasgow have provided them with valuable competitive preparation for the Asian Games and hopes that momentum will carry into Aichi-Nagoya.
"Glasgow made good preparation for the Asian Games also because Glasgow, they have done best performance, and I am hoping that the Asian Games also players will do good performance," she said.
From 1982 silver to 1986 gold rush
Usha's confidence also comes from personal experience. She knows better than most what it means to arrive at an Asian Games carrying the expectations of an entire nation. Her own first experience came at the 1982 Asian Games, when she was only 18.
Her preparations were far from ideal. "I was not well, I had malaria. Then within 10 days training, I managed to get selection and then I picked up somewhere other with my hard work, 20 days I picked up my fitness and ran and got silver medal," Usha recalled.
But her experience at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul was entirely different.
By then, she had established herself as one of India's biggest sporting stars. More importantly, she approached the competition with a different mindset.
"When you wear India jersey, your mind should be different," Usha said. "I'm participating for the country, not for me. "
India had not won a gold medal in athletics at the Asian Games before her campaign, and Usha carried the belief that she could change that.
"My confidence that I should win the medal, gold medal for the country, I should not let down," she recalled.
The result was one of the most memorable performances by an Indian athlete at the Asian Games. Usha won four gold medals and one silver in Seoul, while India finished fourth in the overall standings with five gold medals.
The facilities available to athletes then, however, were vastly different from what Indian sportspersons have access to today.
"Facilities were not there at that time," Usha said.
That, she believes, is one of the biggest differences between her generation and the athletes heading to Japan.
'Everybody is with the players'
Usha contrasted the limited support available to athletes during her competitive years with the extensive ecosystem surrounding India's current contingent.
"This is totally different," she said. "Everybody is with them. Everybody in the sense, the full government is supporting. Honourable Prime Minister is supporting himself fully for the players, whatever they want. "
She also credited the national federations, the IOA, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and sponsors for creating a much stronger support system around the athletes.
"So all countries with the players, so what else they want?" Usha said.
Her message to the athletes is therefore simple: use that support, but do not allow expectations to become pressure.
"They should focus on their event and for the best performance. They should try. They should not keep stress," she said.
Usha's message to Vithya Ramraj: Don't chase my record
Among the athletes carrying an interesting personal connection to Usha's legacy is Vithya Ramraj.
Vithya - the Tamil Nadu athlete - has been chasing Usha's long-standing 400m hurdles record and came within touching distance before eventually equalling the 55.42-second mark at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The record had been set by Usha at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, meaning it stood for nearly four decades before Vithya matched it.
But Usha does not want the younger athlete-or any athlete-to become consumed by the pursuit of someone else's record.
Her advice is to change the target altogether.
"She should not be thinking that to break my record," Usha said.
Instead, Vithya should focus on winning at the Asian Games, reaching an Olympic final or breaking the 55-second barrier.
"If she thinks about breaking my record, then some other local meet even she can do, but she will not be able to achieve the great achievements," Usha said.
For the legendary hurdler, the message extends beyond Vithya.
"It is not that somebody's record she should break. She should perform well and do the best in the world or Asian Games," she said.
It is an approach that reflects Usha's own competitive philosophy: records should be a consequence of performance, not the sole objective.
No medal count, but plenty of confidence
India's 503-member contingent will carry the weight of its best-ever Asian Games medal haul from Hangzhou, but Usha is deliberately avoiding setting a numerical target.
Instead, she is placing her faith in the preparation, support system and experience of the athletes. The former champion knows from her own career that sporting success cannot always be reduced to a pre-event calculation.
For an athlete stepping onto the biggest stage, the objective is simpler: execute the event, manage the pressure and give the best possible performance.
Usha believes India's athletes now have the preparation and support to do exactly that.
"I am confident of players that looking at them, they will do their best," she said.
And for the woman who once carried India's hopes on her own shoulders, that confidence comes with one final piece of advice for the country's next generation: focus on the performance, not the pressure.
