The Asian Games-bound hurdler clocked 55.43s, a hundredth slower than PT Usha’s national record set at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.
With just a few days to go for the Asian Games, the Indian athletics contingent got a shot in the arm with Vithya Ramraj clocking 55.43s to win the women’s 400m hurdles at the Indian Grand Prix 5 2023 athletics in Chandigarh on Monday.
Vithya Ramraj’s timing to win the women’s 400mh is her personal best and the second-best by an Asian this year. Bahrain’s Kemi Adekoya, the 2014 Asian Games champion, has Asia’s best time of 53.09s in 2023.
The 24-year-old Vithya Ramraj was also just 0.01s short of PT Usha’s national record set at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. PT Usha finished fourth but her effort is India’s second longest-running national record. Shivnath Singh’s national record in marathon set in 1978 is India’s oldest national record in athletics.
“I was a bit slow in my first 200m and then picked up speed,” Vithya Ramraj told PTI. “If I had run faster in the first 200m, I would have broken the national record today itself.
“But the Asian Games is coming up and I will try to break the national record there,” she added. On Sunday, Vithya Ramraj won the 400m flat with her personal best of 52.40s.
Sinchal Kaveramma Ravi, the other Asian Games-bound 400m hurdler, clocked 58.46s to finish second and was followed by Ramandeep Kaur, who crossed the finish line in 1:01.02.
Meanwhile, 2014 Asian Games discus throw champion Seema Punia touched her season best of 57.96m in just a two-member field. The 40-year-old’s personal best is 64.84m.
The Indian GP 5 2023 was also the last chance for India’s 4×100 men’s and women’s relay teams to make the cut for the Asian Games by breaching the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) entry standard.
However, the women’s relay team of Nithya Gandhe, Vijaya Kumari, Srabani Nanda and Jyothi Yarraji clocked 44.66s and fell short by 0.16s.
The men’s 4×100 relay event was won by the quartet of Harjit Singh, Amlan Borgohain, Amiya Kumar Mallick and Siva Kumar B in 39.24s. They also fell short of the qualifying time for the Asian Games by 0.24s.
The final Indian athletics squad for the Asian Games is likely to be announced by the AFI later in the day.
Indian Grand Prix 5 2023 athletics: Day 2 medal winners
Women’s 10000m race walk: 1. Bandana Patel (Uttar Pradesh) – 52:53.98; 2. Monika (Haryana) – 57:36.87; 3. Pinki (Haryana) – 58:56.75
Men’s 10000m race walk: 1. Vivek Rathi (Haryana) – 52:27.15; 2. Mohit (Delhi) – 53:10.04; 3. NA
Men’s 400m hurdles: 1. Yashas P (Karnataka) – 49.69s; 2. Dhaval Mahesh Utekar (Gujarat) – 51.23s; 3. Vijay Singh Malik (Haryana) – 51.25s
Women’s triple jump: 1. Sharvari Avinash Parulekar (Maharashtra) – 13.26m; 2. Niharika Vashisht (Punjab) 12.94m; 3. Kajal (Haryana) – 12.20m
Women’s 400m hurdles: 1. Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) – 55.43s; 2. Sinchal Kaveramma TR (Karnataka) – 58.46s; 3. Ramandeep Kaur (Punjab) – 1:01.02
Men’s shot put: Sahib Singh (Delhi) – 18.29m; 2. Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (Punjab) 18.28m; 3. Paramjeet Singh (Chandigarh) – 17.38m
Women’s hammer throw: 1. Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) – 62.60m; 2. KM Rachna (Uttar Pradesh) – 60.71m; 3. KM Fatma (Uttar Pradesh) – 49.70m
Men’s 800m: 1. Ankesh Chaudhary (Himachal Pradesh) – 1:48.12; 2. Sree Kiran (Tamil Nadu) – 1:48.66; Prakash Gadade (Maharashtra) – 1:48.88
Women’s 800m: 1. Chanda (Delhi) – 2:02.68; 2. Harmilan Bains (Punjab) – 2:03.06; 3. Kajal Rangnath Kandwade (Gujarat) – 2:11.69
Women’s discus throw: Seema Punia (Uttar Pradesh) – 57.96m; 2. Anisha (Delhi) – 47.72m; 3. NA
Women’s high jump: 1. Rubina Yadav (Haryana) – 1.79m; 2. Abhinaya S Shetty (Karnataka) – 1.79m; 3. Rekha (Haryana) – 1.70m
Men’s 3000m steeplechase: Md Hasan (Uttar Pradesh) – 8:35.00; 2. Ankit Rajesh (Haryana) 8:44.04; 3. Pukeshwar Lal Chhattisgarh – 8:44.90
Men’s long jump: 1. Aditya Kumar Singh (Madhya Pradesh) – 7.62m; 2. Rishabh Rishishwar (Uttar Pradesh) 7.53m; 3. Sahil Mahabali (Haryana) – 7.46m
Women’s 3000m steeplechase: 1. Priti Lamba (Haryana) – 9:45.132; 2. Kajalben Dineshbhai Vegad (Gujarat) – 12:56.12; 3. NA
Men’s 4x100m relay race: 1. Harjit Singh//Amlan Borgohain/Amiya Kumar Mallick/Siva Kumar B – 39.24s; 2. Lalu Prasad Bhoi/Elakkiyadasan K/N Shanumaga Sriniva/Gurindervir Singh – 40.63s; 3. D Mrutyam Jayaram/Aryan Ekka/Abhinash Sahu/Sarun Payasingh – 41.64s
Women’s 4x100m relay race: 1. Nithya Gandhe/Vijaya Kumari/Srabani Nanda/Jyothi Yarraji – 44.66s: 2. Himashree Roy/Daneshwari AT/Subha Venkatesan/B Yadav Bhagavathi – 45.36s: 3. Sonia Baishya/Florence Barla/Aishwarya Mishra/Prachi – 47.90s
Source: olympics.com
