Vithya Ramraj Wins 400m Hurdles Bronze, Breaks PT Usha's 42-Year-Old Indian Record at Asian Games

Ramraj's record-breaking run in the Aichi-Nagoya final

Vithya Ramraj produced a landmark performance in the women's 400m hurdles final at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday, winning bronze and breaking the 42-year-old Indian national record held by legendary athlete PT Usha. The 28-year-old from Tamil Nadu cleared all 10 hurdles to finish third in 54.75 seconds, a personal best that improved the previous benchmark of 55.42 seconds by 0.67 seconds. Usha had set that mark at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she finished fourth in the Olympic final.

How the podium played out

Ramraj's bronze came in a race won by Mariam Kareem of the United Arab Emirates, who stormed to gold in a Games-record 54.31 seconds. Kazakhstan's Adelina Zems took silver with a personal best of 54.58 seconds. Ramraj, who had equalled Usha's mark at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou — where she also claimed bronze — finally moved past the long-standing record that had ranked among the most enduring in Indian athletics. The run also gave her a second medal of these Games, following a silver in the mixed 4x400m relay.

Other Indian performances and the wider final

India's Anu Raghavan, running in lane eight, lowered her personal best to 55.88 seconds to finish fifth, having entered the final with a previous best of 56.54 seconds. The full final was rounded out by Kong Yingying of China in 55.78 seconds, Japan's Honoka Aoki in 56.24, Chung Hsin-ju of Chinese Taipei in 56.65 and Japan's Satsuki Umehara in 57.90 seconds. PT Usha, who now heads the Indian Olympic Association, was in attendance at the Games in Nagoya.

Significance of the new benchmark

By stopping the clock at 54.75 seconds, Ramraj became the first Indian woman to break the 55-second barrier in the women's 400m hurdles, taking sole ownership of a national record that had been jointly held by her and Usha since 2023. The result gave her successive Asian Games medals in the event — bronze in Hangzhou and bronze in Nagoya — and ended one of the longest waits in Indian athletics history, with Usha's 1984 mark having stood for more than four decades.