Vithya Ramraj Breaks PT Usha's 39-year-old Meet Record at National Open Athletics Championships 2024

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India's 400m hurdle sensation Vithya Ramraj left the disappointment of the Paris Olympics behind her as she ended her season with a record-breaking run at the National Open Athletics Championships 2024 in Bengaluru on September 2 -- Monday.

The 25-year-old hurdler clocked her season best of 56.23 seconds to surpass the 39-year-old meet record of legendary PT Usha (56.80 seconds in 1985 Trivandrum) while maintaining her national dominance in the category. Vithya is also the joint national record holder with PT Usha at 55.42 seconds, a feat she achieved last season.

Speaking to myKhel after breaking the meet record, Vithya Ramraj said: "So happy about it because it was a legendary PT Usha ma'am record for close to 40 years. I tried to break it two years ago but missed it by less than a second. I felt quite upset at that time. But this year, I think it's my year as I made it to the Olympics with the relay team (4x400m) and now I break this in the late end of the season. I am so proud of this and all this is because of my greatest coach Nehpal Singh."

The website also caught up with coach Nehpal, who also trains Vithya's twin sister Nithya (100m hurdler). The young coach, who is known for mincing no words, felt that breaking the record late in the season sets them up for the next season with World Athletics Championships in the waiting.

"We came to Bengaluru in the party mood as this was the last competition of the season but Vithya wanted to improve her personal best, that's why she was adamant on performing well," said Nehpal. "Breaking PT Usha's record means a lot but we both know Vithya is capable of doing much better timing.

"What pleased me more was that she did it without doing hurdles for the last three months (Vithya was focussing on the 400m relays for the Olympics). This sets us up well for the next season. We came here intending to do season best and all my athletes did well."

Vithya's twin sister Nithya won the women's 100m gold medal on Saturday as she clocked her personal best of 13.04 seconds and came mighty close to becoming the second Indian woman since national record holder Jyothi Yarraji to breach the sub-13 barrier. Yarraji skipped the National Open as she ended her season after the Paris Olympics.

Women's 400m Hurdles Official Result

National Record (NR): PT Usha, Los Angeles - 55.42 (8/08/1984)
Previous Meet Record (MR): PT Usha, Trivandrum - 56.80 (1985)

Final Results:

1. R. Vithya Ramraj (Railway Sports) - 56.23 seconds (New Meet Record)
2. Sinchal (Railway Sports) - 57.60 seconds
3. Prajna (Karnataka) - 57.90 seconds
4. Olimba Steffi (Tamil Nadu) - 58.09 seconds
5. Neha Dhabale (Maharashtra) - 59.07 seconds
6. Deekshita Ramak Gowda (Karnataka) - 1:01.04
7. Amulya BM (Karnataka) - 1:01.05
8. Khushdeep Kaur (Punjab) - 1:02.78