Asian Games: Vithya Ramraj sets national record, wins 400m hurdles bronze
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Nagoya: Vithya Ramraj produced a landmark performance at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, breaking PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record to win bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles.
Ramraj clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds to finish third in the final, bettering Usha’s previous national record of 55.42 seconds by 0.67 seconds. Usha had set the mark at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she finished fourth in the final.
Ramraj had previously equalled Usha’s record at the 2023 Asian Games, where she also won bronze. Three years later, she finally surpassed the mark, which had stood as one of the longest-standing records in Indian athletics.
The Indian remained firmly in medal contention throughout the race and held her position in the closing stages but could not match the late surge of Mariam Kareem of the United Arab Emirates.
Kareem won gold in a Games-record 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems claimed silver with a personal best of 54.58 seconds.
Ramraj’s 54.75-second effort not only secured her a second consecutive Asian Games bronze in the event but also marked a significant improvement on her previous personal best of 55.42 seconds.
Her compatriot Anu Raghavan also delivered a strong performance in the final. Running in lane eight, Raghavan lowered her personal best from 56.54 seconds to 55.88 seconds to finish fifth.
For Ramraj, the bronze extends an impressive Asian Games run. She had won bronze in the same event at Hangzhou in 2023 before returning to the final in Aichi-Nagoya and claiming another medal.
Usha’s 55.42-second record had stood since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she narrowly missed a medal after finishing fourth. Ramraj, who had shared the mark since 2023, has now surpassed it outright and rewritten the national record books.
With IANS inputs