Indian athlete Vithya Ramraj created history on the ninth day of the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Monday, October 2.
Vithya equaled a 39-year-old national record set by the legendary PT Usha with the former successfully qualifying for the final of women's 400 m hurdles event.
Vithya finished at the top of her heat one and number two overall with personal best timings of 55.42 seconds to be among the top five athletes to go to the final.
In the second heat, Kaveram Sinchal Ravi finished at fourth and bottom in heat two with timings of 58.62, unable to qualify for the medal round. She also finished tenth overall.
Usha, who is now the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), had set the National Record way back in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when she missed the bronze medal by a whisker.
Running in the first heat, the 24-year-old Vithya finished in the first position ahead of Jamal Aminat Oluwaseun Yusuf of Bahrain.
Vithya had clocked just 0.01 seconds short of the national record in the Indian Grand Prix 5 2023 athletics in September this year.
In the men's high jump, Jesse Sandesh and Anil Sarvesh Kushare managed to reach the final while in the men's 800m final, Mohammed Afsal and Krishnan reached the finals.
In men's 400 m hurdles, Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan secured a second-place finish in his heats and overall with timings of 49.28 seconds to reach the final
India has 12 medals in athletics so far, with two gold, five silver, and five bronze. The athletics events started on September 29 and will go on till October 5.
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Vithya Ramraj will race in the women's 400m hurdles final tomorrow at 4:50 PM IST. However, Sinchal Kaveram Theetharamada Ravi failed to advance to the final as she finished last in heat 2.
Tejaswin Shankar, meanwhile, threw a season-best 13.39m in the men's decathlon shot put event, scoring 691 points. He slipped to fifth position in the overall standings ahead of the high jump and 400m events, starting later today.