Vithya Ramraj has finally broken one of the longest-standing records in Indian athletics, surpassing PT Usha’s 42-year-old national mark in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Asian Games 2026.
The 28-year-old clocked 54.75 seconds in Nagoya to win bronze and, in the process, put her name ahead of one of Indian sport’s most enduring benchmarks.
Usha had set the record of 55.42 seconds at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and it remained untouched for more than four decades. Vithya had already come close to rewriting the mark when she equalled 55.42 seconds at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, but Monday’s run finally gave her the outright record.
Asian Games 2026, September 28
The timing was also a personal best for Vithya and earned her a second medal in Nagoya. She had helped India win silver in the mixed 4x400m relay earlier in the Games, producing a strong anchor leg as the Indian quartet finished second.
There was another familiar part to the result. Vithya had won bronze in the 400m hurdles at the previous Asian Games as well, meaning she has now reached the podium in the event at successive editions. This time, however, her medal came with a record that had been associated with Usha since the 1980s.
Mariam Kareem of the UAE won gold in 54.31 seconds, setting a new Games record, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver in 54.58. India’s Anu Raghavan finished fifth in 55.88 seconds.
HOW VITHYA FINALLY BROKE PT USHA’S RECORD
The 55.42-second mark had followed Vithya for years. When she matched it in Hangzhou in 2023, she became the first Indian woman to equal Usha’s national record, but the record itself continued to belong to the legendary athlete who had set it in Los Angeles in 1984.
Vithya had shown she was capable of going faster, but the breakthrough took time. In Nagoya, she finally put together the race required to move beyond that mark, stopping the clock at 54.75 seconds.
That means she lowered the national record by 0.67 seconds, becoming the first Indian woman to go under 55 seconds in the 400m hurdles. It was a significant improvement on her previous best of 55.42.
TWO MEDALS AND A NEW BENCHMARK
The record gives Vithya’s Asian Games campaign another dimension. Her first medal came as part of the mixed relay team, while this one was built entirely around her individual run and ended with a personal best.
For an athlete who had already spent years chasing Usha’s mark, the Nagoya performance also changes the conversation around her career. Vithya now has successive Asian Games medals in the 400m hurdles, a second medal from Nagoya and, most importantly, a national record that once seemed almost impossible to move.
Comments are closed.