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Indian athlete Vithya Ramraj, who made history at the ongoing Asian Games in Japan by breaking legendary PT Usha's long-standing women's 400 m hurdles titles, expressed happiness over her feat and hoped that it would encourage youngsters to take up sport and gain more belief.
Vithya spoke to ANI on the sidelines of the felicitation event by Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Aadhav Arjuna for the athletes who made India proud at the Asian Games by winning medals. Medalists Vishal TK, G Kamalini, Baranica Elangovan and Abinaya Rajarajan were also present at the event. Vithya won three medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games -- gold in the women's4x400m 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 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. Speaking to ANI, Vithya said about breaking the record, "I am so happy. I am so proud of it because everywhere Iin the last three years, I did not break the record; I equalled it. But my mind was saying, "When are you going to break it?" Everyone would ask the question, "You equalled Ma'am's record, when are you going to break it?" So, I did that. After everyone said it, I created history, I think, as Vithya Ramraj. So, I'm happy about that." She also thanked the state government and the Tamil Nadu Olympic Association for their support, acknowledging that athletes need support to reach the highest level of success. "Without support, we cannot go to this much higher stage. We want to perform, but without support... So, the State Government support was so good. I was in the Elite scheme. In that scheme, I utilised it. Then Japan was so good. We went to Tsukuba University, it was so nice. The experience was happy," she recalled. Vithya reflected on the social media fame achieved after breaking PT Usha's record and how no one knew her before that. Now she hopes that her success will fuel youngsters' belief and ambition to take up sport. "In the last Asian Games, I equalled it; it was different. The feeling was extremely different. But this year, I broke it, then I went for 55 seconds, the first Indian woman. The experience was so happy because, in these three days, I was going viralviral videos on YouTube, Instagram. So, I am happy. Before, no one knew Vithya Ramraj. Now, if I go anywhere, people see me and say, "Yeah, you are Vithya Ramraj." So, I expect that everyone coming in, youngsters, wants to do it (take up sport) and they start believing," she added. On coaches also being felicitated by the state government, she said that the government agreed to it, saying that the coaches and athletes are equal. On receiving encouragement from the Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin on social media, she said, "I was so happy. He is a big fan, not only in Tamil Nadu, After he posted a photo on Instagram, I got more views and more followers. So, I am so happy." (ANI)
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