Vithya Ramraj Breaks PT Usha’s 42-Year National Record

Indian hurdler Vithya Ramraj produced a historic performance at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, winning bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles while breaking one of Indian athletics’ longest-standing national records.

The 28-year-old clocked 54.75 seconds in the final, improving on the 55.42-second national record set by PT Usha at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The mark had stood for 42 years.

KEY HIGHLIGHT
Vithya Ramraj clocked 54.75 seconds to break PT Usha’s 42-year-old women’s 400m hurdles national record of 55.42 seconds.

Ramraj had been chasing the record for years. At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, she had matched Usha’s 55.42-second mark in the heats. Three years later in Nagoya, she finally lowered the national record by 0.67 seconds.

The final was exceptionally fast. UAE’s Mariam Kareem won gold with an Asian Games record of 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems claimed silver with a personal-best 54.58 seconds. Ramraj finished third with her record-breaking 54.75-second run.

RECORD-BREAKING RUN
Gold — Mariam Kareem: 54.31s | Silver — Adelina Zems: 54.58s | Bronze — Vithya Ramraj: 54.75s, new Indian national record

Another Indian athlete, Anu Raghavan, finished fifth after recording a personal best of 55.88 seconds. Four of the eight finalists produced personal-best performances in the race.

The result also gave Ramraj her second consecutive Asian Games bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles. Her performance continued India’s medal streak in the event, following Anu Raghavan’s bronze in 2018.

This was Ramraj’s second medal at the 2026 Asian Games. She had earlier won silver as part of India’s mixed 4x400m relay team. Her 54.75-second performance now stands as the new Indian benchmark in the women’s 400m hurdles.