The 55-year-old, who once held the national record in 4x100 metres relay, succumbs to cancer.
“It’s a great loss. Madhu’s contribution to athletics is irreplaceable,” said Nitin Patwardan, officer superintendent for sports in Central Railway. After a four-year struggle against cancer, former India athlete Madhu Shivdutt breathed her last on Wednesday night at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Byculla. She was 55.
Shivdutt, who won the gold medal in long jump at the Indo-Pak international meet in the 1970s, played a major role in improving the standard of athletics in Indian Railways.
In 1974, Shivdutt joined Western Railway through sports quota. In 1981, she, along with PT Usha and two others, set a new national record of 49.1 seconds in the 4x100 metres relay at New Delhi.
The record was eventually broken. An athlete par excellence, Shivdutt was also awarded the Shiv Chhatrapati Award by the Maharashtra Sports department the same year.
After strutting her stuff in the field of athletics, Shivdutt took up sports administration. She served as welfare inspector (sports) in Western Railway for many years before taking over as sports officer at Central Railway in 1997.
She was the force behind the creation of ball badminton, tennis and rifle shooting teams at Central Railway. It took her around four years to form a proper team. “Madhu was an expert in talent spotting. She took CR’s sporting quality to a different altitude altogether,” Patwardan said. “It is because of her efforts that we could reach the No.2 position from being seventh or eighth. Her involvement helped us secure many gold medals. We have been winning the Silver Cup for the last four years in the Indian Railways Championship. That’s a great achievement for CR,” he added.
Shivdutt’s efforts have not gone in vain. Three of her wards have found a place in the athletics squad for this year’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) as well as Asiad. Those selected for the CWG include Sudha Singh (3000m steeplechase), Shushma Devi (1500m) and Sandeep Batham (5000m).
National record holder (3000m steeplechase) Sudha Singh, who is currently at the CWG training camp in Bangalore, told DNA, “It is really upsetting that Madhu madam cannot see us taking part in the CWG and Asian Games. She went out of her way to help me reach this level. I find it hard to digest that she is no more. I thought she would survive longer. We have strict rules at the camp and I was unable to attend her funeral. I have no words to express my regret.”
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