Halting and choking on her words, with tears welling up in her eyes, one of India's greatest athletes said, ``I am sad and disappointed. I was left out and nobody told me till I asked last night. It seems the whole world except Usha knew that she would not be given the honour of running one last time for India.''

``In Delhi, Iwas told I would run the 4x400m relay, but here, suddenly, no one said a word to me, so I thought I was running,'' she added. ``Still I am happy with what I have achieved in my career.''

On the first day of athletics, a small band of Indian students armed with the Indian tricolour, turned up at the stadium. When Usha turned up at the track for the 400m semi-finals, there was a roar: ``Usha, Usha, Usha...'' from that section.

In her salad days, Usha could have even taken the liberty of waving out to them. This time she looked up, smiled and then quietly walked to the blocks. In those few seconds, her entire career -- spanning from 1979, when as a gawky 15-year-old she first donned India colours at the Qaid-e-Azam meet in Pakistan to the current moment -- would have flashed before her eyes.

New Delhi. Kuwait. Los Angeles. Jakarta. Seoul. Singapore. Beijing. Hiroshima. Fukuoka and now she was at her final stop: Bangkok.She had survived injuries, critics, hangers-on and two voluntary retirements. She had 18gold medals from various events from five Asian Championships and five Asian Games since 1983. If her form in Fukuoka was any indication, she could have added some more medals. But a hamstring injury that saw her collapse on the track in Calcutta last month cost her valuable training time before the Bangkok Games. Yet she made the team and the officials kept hoping that by the time of the event she would be fit enough.

But it was not to be. The strain of a less than fully fit leg showed. Usha would have clocked faster times on one leg in her heydays. Now each step was an effort.

She anchored the 4x100m relay team. Got the baton in the second place, but managed to finish only fourth, beaten for the bronze by one tenth of a second. The message: Father Time waits for no one. Not even for a tenth of a second.

Then on Thursday, Usha came in for final run in the 200 metres heat. Tragedy: she failed to make the final of any event in Asia for the first time. A little later, the Amateur Athleic Federation ofIndias secretary confirmed Usha would not be fielded in the final of the 4x400m on Saturday.Meanwhile, the students still waited for Jyoti to come out of the dope testing room and when she did, they threw down caps, books, scraps of paper for the new star to give them an autograph.

As Jyoti basked in the glory, a legend passed her by. Usha was slipping by through the tunnel nearby, unnoticed. Once mobbed by youngsters around the continent, Usha began her slow walk from the stadium to the Village. And when some scribes met her, she stopped. Smiled and pondered. Said a few words about the injury which cost her a chance to go out in a blaze of glory. Mumbled about how her Russian coach may have erred in loading her with more workouts when a rest may have helped. And in an even lower voice said something about the politics of coaches. The pain showed through the smile. Then, she shook us by the hand; more like she was consoling us, instead of the other way around. Then she continued her walk. Towards the GamesVillage and into the sunset. An era had ended.