Tamil Nadu’s 400m hurdler R Vithya Ramraj is on song, narrowly misses PT Usha’s national record

Tamil Nadu’s sprinter R Vithya Ramraj, who turns 25 next week, had an excellent run at the two-day fifth leg of the Indian Grand Prix meeting at Chandigarh’s newly constructed eight lane 400m synthetic track. On the opening day on Sunday, she improved her personal best in the women’s 400m. Her winning time was 52.40 seconds.

On Monday, she was on the verge of etching her name in the record books. She narrowly missed PT Usha’s long-standing women’s 400m hurdles record of 55.42 seconds set during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Vithya’s winning time was 55.43 seconds. “When I glanced at the giant screen, I couldn’t believe I was so close to setting a national record,” Vithya said after her race.

Running in lane number five Vithya set a scorching pace from the word go. At the halfway mark she was far ahead of her rivals. She crossed the line to stop the clock at 55.43 seconds.

“I’m more confident now that I will certainly break that barrier in my next race,” Vithya added.

Vithya was also confident of a podium at the Hangzhou Asian Games starting September 23 in China. The Tamil Nadu sprinter will compete in both 400m flat and 400m hurdles in Hangzhou.

“The competition in China will be more challenging. But I’m prepared,” she said.

In June at the Bhubaneswar’s National Inter State Athletics Championships, Vithya’s gold-winning time in 400m hurdles was 56.01 seconds.

“I was a bit tired during the domestic meeting in Bhubaneswar as I was competing in both 400m flat and 400m hurdles. But I knew I would do better in future,” Vithya recalls.

Primarily a hurdler, the Tamil Nadu athlete said she might not be as tall as some of the global 400m hurdlers, but her fundamental strength was speed-endurance.

“I’ve 16 stride patterns for the first six hurdles and 17 stride pattern for the last four hurdles,” she said. “After the Asian Games I will change my stride pattern.”