Vithya Ramraj dominates 400m hurdles, clocks 2nd-fastest time in Asia

Kochi: Vithya Ramraj and legendary athlete PT Usha have one thing in common. The two hold the women’s 400m hurdles record with a time of 55.42 seconds. On Wednesday at the Maharaja’s College Stadium here in K o c h i , Vithya couldn’t come anywhere close to that record but dominated the event from start to finish.

She clocked 56.04 seconds to smash the meet record and grabbed the women’s 400m hurdles gold on Day 3 of the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition. She erased the mark set by Saritaben Gayakwad (57.21s) in the Patiala meet six years ago.

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The victory also offered Vithya some consolation after being pushed to second place in the women’s 400 by Uttar Pradesh’s Rupa on Tuesday. Kerala’s Anu R finished second with a time of 58.26 seconds, while Aswini R (1.02.41) of Tamil Nadu bagged the bronze.

However, Vithya rued the lack of competition in the event. “It was a good track and good conditions, but I didn’t feel challenged. “After a point, all my rivals were far behind, and I felt as if I was competing with myself. I could have improved the timing a bit more if there was better competition,” she said.

Vithya’s effort in Kochi is the second-fastest time in Asia this year, and if she can do an encore at the Asian Championship in South Korea next month, she can expect a podium finish. However, more than securing a medal at the Asian event, Vithya’s primary target is to achieve a personal best, which would see her erasing Usha’s 40-year-old record.