After breaking PT Usha’s record, Vithya Ramraj sets sight on ‘Mission Sub-54’

CHENNAI: For more than four decades, PT Usha’s 55.42 seconds stood as a benchmark in Indian athletics. Now, it is history. Vithya Ramraj rewrote the record books at the 2026 Asian Games, clocking 54.75 seconds in the 400m hurdles to set a new national record.

But even after achieving a feat that had eluded Indian athletics for 40 years, the 28-year-old isn’t settling. Her next target? Breaking 54 seconds.

“Running 54 seconds isn't enough,” Vithya told select journalists after receiving a special ‘Pudhumai Pen’ award at a Tanishq event here in Anna Nagar on Wednesday. Not just that, she was also awarded an eight gram 24 karat gold, with her coach, Nehpal Singh Rathore receiving Rs 1 lakh for his contribution.

“Instead of being satisfied with a national record or a bronze medal, if we want to compete at the absolute elite level, we need 52 or 53 seconds,” she further added.

It is a mindset shared by her coach who wasn’t satisfied with seeing his pupil merely break the record.  “When I asked my coach (Rathore) if he was happy, he actually said no, because he expected a 53-second finish from me. I could have achieved it this season itself, but missed out,” she adds. 

Vithya also opened up on breaking the record, stating that the moment could have come earlier in the year at the Inter-State Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar back in June. However, she couldn’t push herself due to the lack of competition.

“For five years, I have been topping the national charts in India because no one was pushing me in the 400m hurdles. I was running 56-second marks for years. It's only when someone challenges you that you find the fire to fight harder,” she recalled before stating that her coach pushed her towards the challenge ahead of the Asian Games. 

“Once I had competitors running neck-and-neck, my timing naturally dropped.”

Coach reveals sub 54 plans for 2026

Her coach also revealed that they had planned for a ‘sub-54’ in 2026 but her progression had been disrupted when Vithya got injured during the Indian Grand Prix final in Delhi, back in September. 

“For any athlete, structured progression is key. We aimed for sub-54 this year, but her progression was disrupted. In Delhi, she fell during the Indian Grand Prix final series, which interrupted her training momentum again. At the Asian Games we got the result, but not the full progression she is capable of.”

Preparations for the 2026 season began all the way back in November, 2025 when the Coimbatore-born started training with her coach in Salem, practising on the circuits. Immediately after that, the Athletics Federation of India arranged a three-month training camp in Europe, at the Spala Olympic Training Centre in Poland. 

“We spent nearly three months in Poland. The food was remarkably healthy—no heavy spices, just clean, boiled nutrition.  I slept 10 hours a day for three months straight in Poland. That sleep alone elevated my performance,” she says with a smile on her face. 

“Sleep is an athlete’s primary weapon. If your sleep cycle is locked in for a month, your body and brain function at their peak. Many Indian athletes overlook this, but sleep accounts for 90% of recovery. Ice baths, swimming, and mental recreation make up the remaining 10%,” her coach added.

Leading up to the Asian Games, the conditions in Japan were far away from being the best for athletes, with question marks over the arrangements, with the organisers abandoning traditional athletes’ village to cut costs, and instead housed the athletes on the Italian cruise ship Costa Serene, docked at Kinjo Pier. There were even complaints over the food but for Vithya, none of that apart from the gold medal mattered.

“I’ve trained without shoes before. Even now, I cook my own food. We stay in rented housing supported by my coach. For nearly five or six years, I lived in a shared room with twenty other athletes. We used to travel without train reservations, sitting near the lavatories,” Vithya said.

“My coach always told me: "Why are we here? If you get an international stage, your only job is to perform. Don't worry about whether you have luxury, room comforts, or food—just make sure you have clothes to wear and go run your race. Don't think about medals or breaking records. Run for the time." He told me to chase the timing, so that's all I focused on.

Human side to Vithya’s success

However, there’s a much more human side to Vithya, and a twin, Nithya who too is an athlete herself. Throughout the journey, the two have been in togetherness, and in fact, it was Nithya’s choreograph

“There is zero rivalry between us; we only motivate each other. Whenever I feel exhausted or want to give up, she pushes me: "Get up, Vithya! We have goals to achieve. You haven't broken the record yet—you can't afford to be tired." 

“She has been my greatest pillar of support. She even choreographed the victory dance two days before the final and made me learn it!”

Behind the scenes, however, Vithya did not want to brave the opportunity, and asked to be removed from the anchor leg (final runner in a relay). 

“In national events, I know I can outrun anyone in the final 150 meters, but an international relay final is terrifying. I was worried I might drop the baton or let the team down,” she said. 

“But my coach told me: ‘Getting the fourth leg is a rare honour. If you finish strong, you take all the glory. I trust you’. He gave me a clear tactic: ‘Take the baton, lock onto the runner ahead of you for the first 100 meters, accelerate past the 300-meter mark, and unleash everything you have down the final 150-meter stretch’. That strategy worked.”

The 28-year-old is still coming to terms with the reception she has received since returning home. “At the previous Asian Games, nobody even met me at the airport when I won three medals. Today, there are lines outside my home just to say hello. It’s overwhelming and wonderful. But my coach reminded me: "Soak this in for a month, then pack it all away and report back to training in November." 

Now, with expectations of 1.48 billion people, Vithya is ready for the steeper climb, the World Championships in Beijing, China next year, where she will have to be at her best yet again. 

“There is nothing lacking in our ability. When my coach first predicted that I would run 54 seconds, nobody believed him. P.T. Usha ma'am's record had stood for nearly four decades, and I hadn't dipped below 56 seconds for three years. Everyone doubted us.”

“Our next target is the World Championships. At the world level, the top records are around 50 seconds, and you need a 51-second time to make an Olympic final.”