Indian athletics witnessed a landmark moment at the Asian Games 2026 on September 28, as Vithya Ramraj smashed PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles, clocking a sensational 54.75 seconds to win the bronze medal in Nagoya.
The 28-year-old not only secured her second medal of the Games but also finally moved beyond one of the longest-standing records in Indian athletics. Usha had set the previous national mark of 55.42 seconds at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and it had remained untouched for more than four decades.
The record had been within Vithya’s reach for several years. At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, she clocked 55.42 seconds in the heats, equalling Usha’s national record. She went on to win bronze in the final with a time of 55.68 seconds.
Three years later, Vithya finally went one step further. Her 54.75-second run in Nagoya was a personal best and lowered the national record by 0.67 seconds. It also made her the first Indian woman to break the 55-second barrier in the event.
Vithya finished third in a closely contested final. UAE’s Mariam Kareem won gold in 54.31 seconds, setting a new Asian Games record, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver in 54.58 seconds. India’s Anu Raghavan finished fifth in 55.88 seconds.
For Vithya, however, the significance of the race went beyond the medal. The clock finally erased a record that had stood since Usha’s historic run in Los Angeles in 1984.
The 400m hurdles bronze is Vithya’s second medal at the Asian Games 2026. Earlier in the competition, she was part of India’s silver-winning mixed 4x400m relay team. Her performance in the hurdles also gives her successive Asian Games medals in the event, having won bronze in Hangzhou in 2023.
But Nagoya will be remembered for something bigger: after years of chasing the benchmark set by one of India’s greatest track athletes, Vithya Ramraj has finally rewritten the national record books.
The 55.42-second mark that had belonged to PT Usha for 42 years is now history. The new Indian record stands at 54.75 seconds — Vithya Ramraj’s name is beside it.
