Indian Grand Prix-5: Vithya Ramraj narrowly misses out on breaking PT Usha’s 39-year-old 400m hurdles record

The 24-year-old Vithya’s time was just one-hundredth of a second less than Usha’s 55.42 which she had clocked while finishing fourth in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

R Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu during the Indian Grand Prix-5 in Chandigarh. | Photo Credit: AFI@X

A day after her 400m stunner, Vithya Ramraj almost came close to toppling P.T. Usha’s 39-year-old 400m hurdles national record, missing it by one-hundredth of a second, at the Indian Grand Prix-5 in Chandigarh on Monday.

Vithya, who was in a world of her own in the 400m hurdles, clocked 55.43s as she gave a shiver to Usha’s precious record which came as she narrowly missed the bronze at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Second-placed Sinchal Kaviramma was more than three seconds behind Vithya.

Narrow miss
R Vithya Ramraj clocked 55.43 secs in 400m hurdles, narrowly mised PT Usha's national record of 55.42 secs set in 1984 Olympics.
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“I thought I’d get the record today, may be I’ll get it at the Asian Games,” said the 24-year-old Vithya who hails from Coimbatore.

Meanwhile, Priti Lamba clocked a personal best of 9:45.13s while winning the women’s 3000m steeple chase, despite the event attracting just two athletes. That got her a ticket to the Asian Games which begin in Hangzhou, China, later this month.

The winners in the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay narrowly missed making the cut for the Asiad, clocking 39.24s (AFI qual. Standard 39s) and 44.66s (44.50s) respectively.

RESULTS

Men: 800m (3 races, overall positions): 1. Ankesh Chaudhary (HP) 1:48.12s, 2. Sree Kiran (TN) 1:48.66, Prakash Gadade (Mah) 1:48.88.

400m hurdles (two races, overall): 1. P. Yashas (Kar) 49.69s, 2. Dhavel Utekar (Guj) 51.23, 3. Vijay Singh Malik (Har) 51.25.

3000m steeplechase: 1. MD Nur Hasan (UP) 8:35.00s, 2. Ankit Rajesh (Har) 8:44.04, 3. Pukeshwar Lal (Cht) 8:44.90.

4x100m relay: 1. Team A (Harjit Singh, Amlan Borgohain, Amiya Kumar Mallick, Siva Kumar) 39.24s, 2. Team B 40.63, Team C 41.64.

Long jump: 1. Aditya Kumar Singh (MP) 7.62m, 2. Rishabh Rishishwar (UP) 7.53m, 3. Sahil Mahabali (Har) 7.46.

Shot put: 1. Sahib Singh (Del) 18.29m, 2. Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (Pun) 18.28, 3. Paramjeet Singh (Chd) 17.38.

10,000m race walk: 1. Vivek Rathi (Har) 52:27.15s, 2. Mohit (Del) 53:10.04.

Women: 800m: 1. Chanda (Del) 2:02.68s, 2. Harmilan Bains (Pun) 2:03.0-6, 3. Kajal Kanwade (Guj) 2:11.69.

400m hurdles R. Vithya Ramraj (TN) 55.43s, 2. Sinchal Kaveramma (Kar) 58.46, 3. Ramandeep Kaur (Pun) 1:01.02.

3000m steeplechase: 1. Priti Lamba (Har) 9: 45.13s, 2. Kajalben Dineshbhai (Guj) 12:56.12s.

4x100m relay: 1. Team A (Nithya Gandhe, Vijaya Kumari, Srabani Nanda, Jyothi Yarraji) 44.66s, 2. Team B 45.36, 3. Team C 47.90.

Hammer throw: 1. Tanya Chaudhary (UP) 62.60m, K.M. Rachna (UP) 60.71m, KM Fatma (UP) 49.70m.

Discus throw: 1. Seema Punia (UP) 57.96m, 2. Anisha (Delhi) 47.72m.

High jump: 1. Rubina Yadav (Har) 1.79m, 2. Abhinaya Shetty (Kar) 1.79, 3. Rekha (Har) 1.70m.

Triple jump: 1. Sharvari Avinash Parulekar (Mah) 13.26m, 2. Niharika Vashisht (Pun) 12.94, 3. Kajal (Har) 12.20.

10,000m race walk: 1. Bandana Patel (UP) 52:53.98s, 2. Monika (Har) 57:36.87, 3. Pinki (Har) 58:56.75.