Vithya Ramraj Breaks PT Usha Record
Ramraj clocks 54.75 seconds to win 400m hurdles bronze at the Asian Games and surpass Usha’s 55.42-second national mark.
India’s Vithya Ramraj won the bronze medal in the women’s 400m hurdles at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya on Monday, while breaking a national record that had stood for more than four decades.
Ramraj clocked 54.75 seconds in the final, improving on PT Usha’s previous national record of 55.42 seconds by 0.67 seconds. She had equalled the same mark at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
UAE’s Mariam Kareem won gold in a Games-record 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver with a personal best of 54.58 seconds. India’s Anu Raghavan finished fifth in 55.88 seconds, also recording a personal best.
The bronze was Ramraj’s second medal at the ongoing Asian Games. She had earlier been part of India’s silver-medal-winning mixed 4x400m relay team.
Ramraj’s achievement also marked her second consecutive Asian Games bronze in the 400m hurdles, after finishing third in the event at Hangzhou. India has now won medals in the event at three consecutive Asian Games, following Anu Raghavan’s bronze in Jakarta in 2018.
PT Usha, whose 55.42-second mark had stood since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, congratulated Ramraj after the race and described the breaking of a long-standing record as a significant moment for the sport.