Asian Games 2026: How Vithya Ramraj broke PT Usha's four-decade-old 400m hurdle record
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Asian Games 2026: How Vithya Ramraj broke PT Usha's four-decade-old 400m hurdle record")
How Vithya Ramraj broke Usha's four-decade-old 400m hurdle record Photograph: (X)
At the 2026 Asian Games, Indian hurdler Vithya Ramraj won bronze in the women's 400m hurdles. Her time of 54.75s broke PT Usha's 42-year-old national record, drawing praise from the IOA chief.
Indian hurdler Vithya Ramraj created history at the ongoing Asian Games 2026 on Monday (Sep 28). Although she won a bronze in the women's 400m hurdles event, she broke former sprinter PT Usha's national record in the race. Usha had run the race in 55.42 seconds at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and Ramraj did it in 54.75 seconds in Nagoya, Japan, overtaking the former Olympian's 42-year-old record. Usha, who now heads the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), was one of the first Indian women athletes who inspired a generation to take up the sport.
How Ramraj broke PT Usha's record
Ramraj had won the bronze in the last edition of the games in the same event back in 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The sprinter had come very close to breaking Usha's record in Hangzhou, equalling her timing of 55.42 seconds. This time, though, Ramraj made sure she broke the record.
Speaking on how she managed to break the record, Ramraj, as quoted by news agency PTI, said: "Everyone has been asking me because I had not gone under 55 seconds for three years. My coach Nehpal Singh Rathore told me to go fast, then maintain it through the sixth hurdle. From the sixth hurdle to the finish line, it was all out."
"The medal is in our hands, but time is not. This race will not come again. Today was my day, so I was going for the timing, not the medal. My coach said we would go under 54 seconds. I did it, and I am so happy. The timing was so good, so I am very happy," she said on winning the medal.
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India had also won the bronze medal in the same event in 2018 at the Jakarta Asian Games as well, when Anu Raghavan clinched the medal.
PT Usha reacts to Ramraj breaking her national record
After Ramraj broke her record, IOA chief Usha congratulated the sprinter in a post on X, which read: "Congratulations Vithya!! Records are meant to be broken & there is no greater reward for an athlete than to see the next generation go beyond the boundaries we once set. Vithya Ramraj breaking my 42-year-old national record in the 400m hurdles is an incredibly special moment.
"As athletes, we compete to challenge ourselves, to push limits & ultimately, to leave the sport better than we found it. When a young athlete comes along & surpasses a milestone that has stood for decades, it is a moment of pride not just for the athlete, but for the sport too."
