Vithya Ramraj breaks PT Usha's long-standing national record to win bronze at Asian Games

Hurdler Vithya Ramraj clocked 54.75 seconds in the women's 400m hurdles final at the Asian Games to win the bronze medal and break PT Usha's national record which had stood for over four decades. Usha's previous mark of 55.42 seconds was one of the longest-standing national records in Indian athletics, and Vithya had been chasing it for some time.

Celebration And Reaction

After realizing she broke the record, the 28-year-old athlete from Coimbatore started dancing on the broadcast to celebrate. PT Usha congratulated Vithya on social media, writing that records are meant to be broken and calling it a special moment to see the next generation go beyond previous boundaries. Vithya previously came very close to the milestone in the last edition of the Asian Games when she clocked 55.42 seconds in the heats and missed it by just 0.01 seconds.

Race Details And Medals

This marks Vithya's second consecutive bronze medal in this event at the Asian Games, having finished third in the previous edition as well. It is also India's third consecutive medal in the event following Anu Raghavan's bronze in a prior edition. The race itself was one of the fastest in Asian Games history, featuring a Games record of 54.31 seconds by Mariam Kareem and a personal best of 54.58 seconds by silver medalist Adelina Zems of Kazakhstan. Another Indian finalist, Anu Raghavan, finished fifth with a personal best of 55.88 seconds, while four out of the eight finalists clocked personal best times. Vithya also secured a silver medal earlier at this edition of the Asian Games with the mixed 4x400m relay team and has a women's 4x400m event remaining. Meanwhile, Santhosh T finished seventh in the men's 400m hurdles final with a time of 49.95 seconds. Overall, this brings India's tally to 14 medals in athletics, consisting of six silver and eight bronze medals.

Context

Athletics track and field events at multi-sport continental meets like the Asian Games bring together the best competitors from across Asia, making national records and personal bests key benchmarks for international success. Breaking a decades-old record highlights the steady progress of Indian track athletes on the regional stage against top-tier competition.