‘Beijing? We should be looking at 2012’

Her reasoning stems from the fact that these athletes flopped in the finals after a brilliant showing in the heats. ‘‘For somebody who has run the 100, 200, 400, 400m hurdles and the 4×400 at international meets, I find it extremely difficult to digest a pullout after a high-voltage display,’’ she says.

Usha firmly believes unless the mess at the grassroots level is addressed, India’s medal hopes will continue to hang by a thread. ‘‘Do you know how difficult it is to be a junior athlete in this country? Their calendar at the school, district, zonal, state and national levels is so haphazard that they end up competing six days a week.’’ Talent just goes down the drain under such circumstances, she feels.

‘‘There is so much to be taken care of while handling these kids. Their coaching, training methods, diet… Every talented kid needs to be nursed with motherly affection,’’ she says.

Usha (40) now runs the eponymous School of Athletics at Koyilandy, near Kozhikode where, she says, she puts into practice what she preaches. But she has been facing an unusual hurdle for her wards, all of whom are below 17. ‘‘Their were protests against my students’ entry at a district meet. The organisers said, ‘It’s not a level-playing field as your students are on a proper diet and provided good training facilities.’ I said fine but at least allow the 10 other students who just train at the school but don’t have access to the diet. They are still protesting,’’ she says.