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.

A National record was broken and some personal marks were bested at the Paloma Mizuho Athletics Stadium as the Indians added more medals to their kitty on Monday (September 28, 2026), of both hues except the golden one the country desperately craved.

Three years ago, Vithya Ramraj ran the 400m hurdles in 55.42 seconds, equalling the longest standing Indian track record held by the legendary P.T. Usha for 39 long years since 1984. It helped her top the group before eventually winning bronze in Hangzhou. On Monday (September 28), the 28-year-old won another bronze but this one was a lot more special — the 54.75 seconds finally made her the sole National record holder, in the presence of Usha, now the IOA president. Anu Raghavan, meanwhile, also ran an individual best 55.88 seconds to finish fifth.

If Vithya found herself in elite company, the javelin throw continued to be the country’s reliable medal-earners with India managing a double podium finish. In Neeraj Chopra’s absence, Rohit Yadav and Yashvir Singh were expected to shoulder the burden and both stepped up on the big stage.

Yashvir, in particular, justified his last-minute inclusion as Neeraj’s replacement, throwing 85.72m for a personal best and silver. Yashvir went hard to match up to leader Rumesh Pathirage but the Sri Lankan world leader and pre-tournament favourite dug deep in wet and challenging conditions for 88.55m in his final throw and won the gold. Rohit managed 84.35m for bronze.

Gulveer Singh, too, added a second silver to his tally here with a new personal mark of 3:36.72s in the 1500m — after leading for more than 1.5 laps and looking set for the top spot before Kazuto Iizawa overtook him in the final 20m. Long jumper M. Sreeshankar, too, got his second silver in as many Games with an effort of 8.07m.

Unfortunately, the constant downpour meant the track and the take-off board were extremely slippery and Sreeshankar’s left leg slipped dangerously in his fourth attempt, the 27-year-old landing awkwardly on the pit and twisting his ankle. He skipped his last two attempts but the second jump was good enough to ensure him the second spot behind China’s Shi Yuhao’s 8.17m.

India missed out on a podium for the first time 32 years in women’s discus throw. Seema Kaliramna’s personal best of 59.88m fetched her only a fourth position. Seema, who had won bronze at the Commonwealth Games recently, was unable to emulate another Seema (Punia), a legend of the sport with five consecutive medals from 2006-2022.

The biggest upset, however, was defending champion and favourite Avinash Sable finishing fourth in 8:21.67s in the 3,000m steeplechase. It was only his second race this year and a far cry from the Games record of 8:19.50 last time around. Parul Chaudhary took home a second bronze in the 5,000m.