Vithya Ramraj misses out on breaking PT Usha's record by one hundredth of a second

Vithya Ramraj (Pic: @afiindia/X)

Tamil Nadu's Asian Games-bound R Vithya Ramraj came agonisingly close to shattering the legendary PT Usha's 39-year-old women's 400m hurdles record as she clocked 55.43 seconds during the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) 5 on Monday.

The 24-year-old Vithya's time was just one hundredth of a second less than Usha's 55.42 which she had clocked while finishing fourth in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Usha's record is the second oldest national record in athletics after Shivnath Singh marathon NR of 1978. She is currently serving as the president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Also Read: Neeraj Chopra: The spear superman of Indian athletics

"Madam Usha is so talented and that is why her record stood for so long. I wanted to break the record, it was in my mind before the race today. I wanted to be the new Ma'am (Usha)," Vithya said.

"I was a bit slow in my first 200m and then picked up speed. Had I run faster in the first 200m, I would have broken the national record today itself. But there is the Asian Games coming up, and I will try to break the NR there," the athlete added after her event.

Meanwhile, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is hoping to add 15 more track and field athletes to the 65 already named for the Hangzhou Asian Games if they achieve the qualification criteria during the two-day Indian Grand Prix beginning on Sunday.

Around half of the athletes named in the Asian Games-bound team have made their entries in the event.

(With agency inputs)