India’s women’s 4x400m relay team won gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Tuesday. It was India’s first athletics gold of the 2026 Games. The team were Kiran Pahal, M R Poovamma, Prachi Chaudhary, and Vithya Ramraj. They finished in 3 minutes and 29.69 seconds. Bahrain took silver with 3:30.21. China won bronze with 3:31.02.
The win came on the final day of the athletics competition at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. India had waited six days for a gold in athletics. The team delivered in the penultimate event.
Vithya Ramraj ran the final leg. She had already broken P. T. Usha’s 400m hurdles record earlier in the Games. In the relay, India was in third place when she received the baton. She overtook China’s Zuo Siyu at the bend. Then she held off Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, the individual 400m gold winner. Vithya raised both hands as she crossed the finish line.
Vithya also praised her teammates. She said they gave her a good lead. She noted that Salwa is a 48-second runner and could easily catch her. But because of the gap her teammates created, Salwa could not close it. Vithya said she maintained the gap because of them.
Poovamma Machettira is the most experienced member of the team. She is 36 years old. She was also part of the gold-winning teams in 2014 and 2018.
India has a strong history in this event. They won gold in the women’s 4x400m relay from 2002 to 2018. They won silver at the last edition in China. Before that, they won gold in 1986 and silver in 1982, 1990, 1994, and 1998.
…Breaks 42-Year-Old Record After Years of Struggle
Vithya Ramraj has done something no Indian woman had done in 42 years. The 27-year-old ran the 400m hurdles in 54.75 seconds at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. That time won her a bronze medal. It also broke P.T. Usha’s national record of 55.42 seconds, which had stood since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
But the time on the clock only tells part of the story. She grew up in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Her father was a truck driver. He often worked extra shifts to keep the family going. Vithya has an identical twin sister, Nithya. Both became athletes. A physical education teacher first noticed their talent and suggested they try the sport. Their mother later enrolled them at a Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu hostel in Erode. That helped a lot because the family could not afford all the costs of training.
Vithya joined the national camp at NIS Patiala in 2018. But she struggled there. The food and language were difficult for her. She also felt she needed more one-on-one attention. Then Covid and an appendicitis surgery disrupted her preparations for the Tokyo Olympic trials. She eventually left the camp and began training on her own with coach Nehpal Singh Rathore.
At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Vithya reached P.T. Usha’s famous mark. Official records credited her with 55.42 seconds in the heats. But for the next three years, she could not go under 55 seconds. People kept asking her when she would break the record.
In Nagoya, she finally gave them the answer. Her coach told her to focus on the timing, not the medal. Vithya crossed the line in 54.75 seconds. She took 0.67 seconds off Usha’s long-standing record. It was her second straight Asian Games bronze in the event. When she realised what she had done, she celebrated with a little dance on the track.
P.T. Usha was happy to see her record broken. She congratulated Vithya and said records are meant to be broken. She added that there is no greater reward for an athlete than seeing the next generation go further.
For Vithya, one of her proudest moments came even before the record. By 2023, she and her sister were earning enough to support the family. Vithya was able to ask her father to stop working as a truck driver. She also bought her mother a flight ticket so she could travel by plane for the first time.
The daughter of a truck driver who worked extra shifts is now the fastest Indian woman ever in the 400m hurdles. For 42 years, the number to beat was 55.42. Vithya Ramraj has changed it to 54.75.
FAQs
Q. What record did Vithya Ramraj break?
A. Vithya broke P.T. Usha’s 400m hurdles record.
Q. What time did Vithya Ramraj run in the 400m hurdles?
A. Vithya finished in 54.75 seconds.
Q. How old is Vithya Ramraj?
A. Vithya is 27 years old.
Q. Who helped Vithya financially during her training?
A. Her twin sister Nithya helped fund her training.
Q. Which medal did Vithya win in the 400m hurdles?
A. Vithya won the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles.
Get the Latest Cricket Updates at IceCric.News. Also, Follow Our Social Media for live updates on Facebook and Instagram.
