Indian hurdler clocks 54.75 seconds in Aichi-Nagoya to surpass legendary athlete’s 1984 mark and secure second successive Asian Games medal
Nagoya, Sept 2026 : Indian hurdler Vithya Ramraj produced a landmark performance at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, breaking PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles and claiming a second successive bronze medal in the event.
Ramraj clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds in a fiercely contested final, improving Usha’s previous national record of 55.42 seconds by 0.67 seconds. The record had stood since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where Usha finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final after narrowly missing out on a podium place.
Ramraj had equalled Usha’s long-standing mark at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where she also won bronze. Three years later, she finally moved beyond the legendary mark, becoming the sole holder of the Indian national record in the event.
The Indian remained firmly in medal contention throughout Monday’s final and maintained her position during the closing stages. However, she could not match the late burst from United Arab Emirates athlete Mariam Kareem, who powered to gold in a Games-record 54.31 seconds.
Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems secured silver with a personal-best effort of 54.58 seconds, while Ramraj completed the podium with her 54.75-second run.
The performance represented a significant improvement for Ramraj, who had entered the competition with a previous best of 55.42 seconds. Her new mark not only earned her another Asian Games medal but also brought an end to one of the longest-standing national records in Indian athletics.
Ramraj’s compatriot Anu Raghavan also delivered an impressive performance in the final. Running from lane eight, Raghavan clocked a personal best of 55.88 seconds to finish fifth. She improved substantially on her previous best of 56.54 seconds.
For Ramraj, the bronze marks another consistent showing on the Asian Games stage. After finishing third in the same event at Hangzhou in 2023, she returned to the final in Aichi-Nagoya and once again secured a place on the podium.
The record she surpassed had been set by Usha at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, one of the defining moments of the legendary athlete’s career. Usha’s 55.42-second mark remained untouched for decades before Ramraj equalled it in 2023.
Now, with her 54.75-second run in Nagoya, Ramraj has rewritten the national record books outright while adding another Asian Games bronze to her growing international résumé.
Her performance also underlined the depth of Indian athletics, with two Indian athletes finishing inside the top five of a highly competitive continental final.
