PT Usha’s 42-year reign ends: How Vithya Ramraj finally broke India’s 400m hurdles mark

Bengaluru: For more than four decades, PT Usha’s 55.42 seconds remained the gold standard for India’s women’s 400m hurdlers. Very few athletes matched her class, and even fewer had the grit to put in the hard yards and challenge the magical number, while many others simply found it insurmountable.Even as the new millennium dawned, India’s top women hurdlers struggled to dip below the one-minute mark. That time was clocked at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, when Usha lost the bronze by milliseconds.Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule | Medal TallyIt was an achievement that put her on the same pedestal as ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, who also came close to a bronze in the men’s 400m at the 1960 Rome Olympics.As India enters the cycle for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, the national mark which became nearly permanent has been erased. Fittingly, the ‘Payyoli Express’ has been overtaken by the Coimbatore Super Fast.Vithya Ramraj had earlier equalled the mark three years ago in the heats at the Hangzhou Asiad."I knew she would peak in this competition. I was almost sure that she would do sub 54.5, but it was 54.7. But it is okay because, without progression, you cannot perform at that big level. Atthe Delhi meet on Sep 10,she fell down from a hurdle;otherwise, we were expecting around 55s there and then the progression from there (to the National record).”When asked why it took so long for Usha’s record to be erased, experts agreed that Usha had set the bar very high, very early in a highly demanding event.“The time clocked in 1984 was world class. PT Usha was a generational talent and she had the talent to go even faster. Then we hardly had athletes of that calibre,” said noted coach PB Jaikumar.Jaikumar trained Anu Raghavan for many years, leading to her winning the bronze at the 2010 Asiad. The 33-year-old, returning to the Asiad after a 14-year gap, clocked her personal best time of 55.88s in Nagoya and finished a creditable fifth on Monday.“It’s a highly technical event, where you need both speed and the technique to fly over the 10 hurdles. We have produced very few athletes of Usha’s calibre over the decades, which is why the record stood for so long,” added Jaikumar.Experts also felt that the athletics federation’s focus on making a quality 4x400m relay squad was another reason for the record to stay for so long.“We had quite a few top-class 400m runners but very few of them did well in the individual events like the 400m or 400m hurdles. The moment they began to impress, coaches eyed including them in the relay squad and over the years, priorities shifted from individual events to the relay,” another national coach said.Still way behindJaikumar also said India still has a long way to catch up with the current world standards despite lowering the record below 55 seconds.“It’s a big feat to break a 42-year-old record but you can’t read too much into it. The new record will still place Vithya among the 35-40 fastest in the world. That shows how far we have to catch up. The main takeaway should be the confidence for our athletes that all records can be broken, provided they keep working hard.“We know our athletes don’t stand much of a chance in the Olympics, so we should target the Asian Games. We should train in such a way that our athletes achieve their personal best at these Games. Count how many of our athletes achieved their personal bests at these Games. Count how many of our athletes achieved their personal bests in Nagoya,” Jaikumar signed off.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.