Vithya Ramraj targets sub-54 after breaking P. T. Usha’s 400m hurdles record

Vithya Ramraj with her three Asian Games 2026 medals during her homecoming in Coimbatore on Saturday. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Vithya Ramraj is still unable to understand the hype and hoopla surrounding her.

The 28-year-old, who emerged as one of India’s standout performers at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, returned with three medals and a National record in the 400m hurdles, breaking P. T. Usha’s 42-year-old mark.

“In the last Asian Games (2023) in Hangzhou, I won three medals. I don’t know why I became popular this time,” she told a select gathering at a function organised by the Anna Nagar outlet of jewellery makers Tanishq on Wednesday.

She might sound modest, but her performance speaks for itself. She played the anchor role brilliantly to help India win the gold medal in the women’s 4x400m relay, ran a brilliant race to break Usha’s long-standing record in the 400m hurdles and did well to guide India to a silver in the 4x400m mixed relay.

Though Vithya is happy to have won bronze in the 400m hurdles at the Games with a record time of 54.75s, she and her personal coach, Nehpal Singh, felt she should focus on running sub-54 in the forthcoming season.

“My coach is not happy with my timing in the 400m hurdles at the Games in Japan. In India, I am not pushed enough. Hence, I am not able to go sub-54. I will work harder and try to achieve the timing my coach has demanded of me,” said Vithya.

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When asked about the facilities at the cruise ship where the team stayed at the Asian Games, Vithya replied that she had faced worse things. “I’ve lived in a room with 20 members. We lived like that for six years. There were no reservations during travel for competitions. My coach [Nehpal Singh] said, ‘Don’t care about anything. Just go and run the race.’”

In all probability, Vithya will make her debut at the World Athletics Championships next year in Beijing, and she hopes to do well. “I want Vithya to make it to the final. That’s the target,” said Nehpal.

According to Vithya, the key to her doing well at the Asian Games was the good sleep she had in Spala (Poland), where she trained prior to the Games. “I slept for 10 hours in these three months. That was what brought my performance,” she said.

She will be keen to maintain the sleep cycle prior to the Worlds, where she hopes to perform well.

At the end of the function, Vithya was given an eight-gram gold coin, while her coach, Nehpal, was given a cheque of ₹1 lakh by Tanishq.