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Vithya Ramraj's three years of sustained training have finally borne fruit, with the Indian athlete returning from the Asian Games 2026 with a medal of each colour, including a gold in the women's 4x400m relay, her father said.
Vithya won three medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games -- gold in the women's 4x400m relay, silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the women's 400m hurdles, where she also broke the 42-year-old national record of legendary athlete PT Usha. "Vithya had continued her training for the past three years and had now won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal at an athletics competition in Japan, surpassing PT Ushas record," Vithya Ramraj's father told ANI on Wednesday. Vithya's father, who worked as a truck driver and even took extra shifts to put food on the table, said his daughters - Vithya and her twin sister Nithya - started by winning district-level competitions and have progressed in their lives because of the support of everyone. "Vithya and her sister Nithya participated in district-level competitions and won several events, following which they qualified for a final competition in Tiruvannamalai. After winning there, they were given an opportunity to stay at the Sports Hostel and undergo professional training. Because of the support extended by everyone, my daughters were able to grow, and we too progressed in life," he said. Vithya clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds in the women's 400m hurdles final to win bronze and erase Usha's national record of 55.42 seconds, set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Despite wet conditions at the Mizuho Stadium, Ramraj cleared all 10 hurdles to finish behind UAE's Mariam Kareem, who won gold in a Games record 54.31 seconds, and Kazakhstan's Adelina Zems, who took silver in 54.58 seconds. Ramraj had earlier equalled Usha's record in the semifinals of the event at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. She then played a key role in India's women's 4x400m relay triumph, as the quartet of Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Ramraj clocked 3:29.69 to win India's first athletics gold of the 2026 Asian Games. Bahrain took silver in 3:30.21, while China won bronze in 3:31.02. In the mixed 4x400m relay, Ramraj combined with Manu TS, Poovamma MR and Vishal TK to win silver in 3:14.46. India remained in contention throughout the final before Ramraj produced a strong final leg to move the team into second place. Bahrain eventually won gold. The three-medal haul made Vithya one of India's standout performers at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, while her record-breaking run in the 400m hurdles added another landmark to her growing career. (ANI)
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