India's Vithya Ramraj achieved a brilliant feat by winning the bronze medal in the women's 400m hurdles at the Asian Games 2026. She clocked 54.75 seconds in the final and broke PT Usha's 42-year-old national record. Usha's record was 55.42 seconds. This was included in the longest standing national record of Indian athletics.

After breaking the record, 28-year-old Vithya expressed his happiness on the field itself. She was seen dancing in the live TV broadcast. Vithya Ramraj of Coimbatore was close to this record for a long time. In the last Asian Games, she had clocked 55.42 seconds in the heats but was just 0.01 seconds short of breaking the record.

Vithya's second consecutive bronze

This is Vithya's second consecutive bronze medal in 400 meter hurdles at the Asian Games. In the last edition also he had secured third place in this event. India has won a medal in this event for the third consecutive Asian Games. Anu Raghavan won bronze in the 2018 Jakarta Games. This time Anu Raghavan also entered the final. She clocked a personal best of 55.88 seconds and finished fifth.

Maryam of UAE won gold

In the final, UAE's Maryam Karim set a new Asian Games record with a timing of 54.32 seconds and won the gold medal. Adelina James of Kazakhstan won the silver medal with her best time of 54.58 seconds. Four of the eight players in the final achieved personal best times.

Who is Vithya Ramraj?

Vithya Ramraj was born on 20 September 1998 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. His father is a truck driver, while his mother is a housewife. Her twin sister Nitya is also an athlete and works in the Indian Railways. Both sisters started their sports career with hockey.

This is Vithya's second medal in this Asian Games. Earlier, she had won a silver medal with the mixed 4×400 meter relay team. Now she will also represent India in the women's 4×400 meter relay.