Vithya Ramraj Breaks PT Usha Record at Asian Games 2026

Vithya Ramraj broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the women’s 400m hurdles as India collected a series of athletics medals at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya on Monday. Ramraj clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds to win bronze, lowering the previous national mark of 55.42 seconds set by Usha at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The performance gave Ramraj her second medal of the Games after she was part of India’s silver-winning mixed 4x400m relay team. Her record-breaking run was one of several Indian podium finishes across the athletics programme, including medals in the men’s long jump, men’s javelin, men’s 1500m and women’s 5000m.

Ramraj rewrites the national 400m hurdles mark

Ramraj finished third in a high-quality women’s 400m hurdles final. UAE athlete Mariam Kareem won gold in a Games-record time of 54.31 seconds, while Kazakhstan’s Adelina Zems took silver with a personal best of 54.58 seconds. Ramraj followed with 54.75 seconds, a personal best that also ended Usha’s long-standing hold on the Indian national record.

The previous record had stood for more than four decades, having been established at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. India’s Anu Raghavan also set a personal best in the final, clocking 55.88 seconds to finish fifth.

Ramraj said her focus was on the clock rather than simply securing a place on the podium. “Medal is in our hands, but time is not. This race will not come tomorrow or yesterday. Today is our day, so I was going for the timing, not the medal,” she said after the race.

India added another field-event medal through Murali Sreeshankar, who won silver in the men’s long jump with 8.07m. China’s Yuhao Shi claimed gold with a season-best 8.17m, while Uzbekistan’s Anvar Anvarov was third with 8.06m. Sreeshankar was unable to complete his final two attempts after hurting his ankle during his fourth jump.

The men’s javelin throw produced a double podium for India. Yashvir Singh threw a personal best of 85.72m on his sixth and final attempt to take silver, with Rohit Yadav securing bronze at 84.35m. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage won gold with 88.33m.

Gulveer Singh also continued his productive Games by earning silver in the men’s 1500m. He recorded a personal best of 3:36.72, his second silver medal of the competition. Japan’s Kazuto Iizawa won gold and Nagiya Mori took bronze, while India’s Yoonus Shah placed ninth in 3:43.88.

Further medals and notable Indian performances

Parul Chaudhary added bronze in the women’s 5000m, finishing in 15:14.61. It was her second medal of the Games following her bronze in the 3000m steeplechase on Sunday. Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won the race, with Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka taking silver.

Elsewhere, Avinash Sable finished fourth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase despite posting a season’s best of 8:21.67. Japan’s Ryuji Miura won gold in a Games-record 8:17.36. Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan was seventh in the men’s 400m hurdles, while Seema Kaliramna finished fourth in the women’s discus throw with 59.88m.

Ramraj’s national-record bronze stood out as the defining Indian result of the session, while the medals won by Sreeshankar, Yashvir, Rohit, Gulveer and Parul underlined the depth of the team’s athletics returns in Nagoya.