Woman coach found hanging at PT Usha School of Athletics

Bengaluru, October 28: An atheltics woman assistant coach was found dead at the training hostel of the Usha School of Athletics in Kozhikode district (Kerala) on Friday (October 28) morning, local police said.

The deceased was identified as P Jayanthi, a 27-year-old hailing from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Jayanthi had joined Usha School of Athletics, the brainchild of sprint legend PT Usha, one and half years ago and was imparting training to students in the field events.

A police official told PTI news agency that as per the complaint they received, she was found hanging in the room in the hostel room at the sports academy in the wee hours of the morning.

"Inquest procedures are progressing and the other details can be available only after a post-mortem and further proceedings," he added.

As per an IANS news agency report, Jayanthi had been a popular personality among her wards.

The local police have begun a probe and is yet to recover any suicide note to ascertain the cause of Jayanthi's death, the IANS report adds.

Track and Field legend PT Usha, who was recently noinated to the Rajya Sabha, had launched the Usha School of Athletics post her athletics career.

The school is dedicated to advancing promotion and practice of sports at possible levels with state-of- the-art facilities in athletic skill development.

Many talented athletes from school have gone on to win laurers for the country at the national and international level.

PT Usha had narrowly missed out on a medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in 400M hurdles event.

She later became the toast of the nation by winning several medals at the Asian Games and Asian championships.

"Yes, we've immense talent and in two years' time you can find world class athletes coming up from PT Usha School of Athletics," the sprint queen had said in a recent interview about her academy which is more a breeding ground for promising athletes from across the country.