Vithya clinched the 400m hurdles bronze with a National record.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
For close to four decades, P.T. Usha remained the undisputed queen of the Indian track, no one able to better her in clearing hurdles, both literally and figuratively. On a wet and humid Monday (September 28, 2026) evening at the Asian Games, Vithya Ramraj finally rewrote the 400m hurdles National record and the 28-year-old couldn’t have been happier, or Usha more proud.
She finished third with 54.75s but that was immaterial for someone who equalled Usha’s record of 55.42 set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the last Asiad. She had been trying to go past ever since. “I met Usha ma’am a year ago and she said, go for 54 seconds. She encouraged me. So doing this today makes me so happy. Everyone’s been asking me for the past three years when I will do 55.4 seconds again, there was pressure,” she admitted.
The conditions were tricky and Vithya agreed things could have been even better. “Back home we never train in the rain for hurdles because there is always a concern about getting injured. Thankfully it stopped during the race but it was pouring during warm-up and I was only praying it to stop, if only for the race duration.”
If Vithya was competing against herself, Yashvir knew he would be judged by the entire nation. Coming in as a last-minute replacement for javelin ace Neeraj Chopra, Yashvir knew he was carrying the weight of both expectations and reputation. The incessant rain did not make things easy.
Throwing a personal best under these conditions to win silver justified his selection. “The grip was getting slippery in the rain and it was difficult to find the rhythm or proper speed during run up. You are also careful of avoiding injuries so to get a PB (85.72m) amidst all this is satisfying,” Yashvir said.
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games bronze medallist admitted there was work to be done, though. “When Neeraj bhai got injured, he messaged me saying I should talk to the officials and try and get my name entered as replacement. Technique today could have been better, we will work on it,” he added.
Published – September 28, 2026 09:53 pm IST
