Hurdler Vithya Ramraj has grown up idolising India's greatest 400m hurdler PT Usha. Although the Tamil Nadu athlete has caught a glimpse of Usha on numerous occasions during competitions, she's never been able to muster the courage to talk to her idol. But after her blazing 400m hurdles at the Athletics Grand Prix on Monday, Vithya, 24, was eager to meet Usha and "seek her blessings." And rightly so. Vithya clocked an impressive 55.43s, just 0.01 seconds short of Usha's four-decade-old national record set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Vithya, who was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, finished a good four seconds ahead of the second placed finisher in her heat. "As soon as I crossed the finishing line, I thought I would have clocked around 56s but when my time was displayed on the screen, I was left shocked. I had never thought I would come this close to the great PT Usha's timings. I still can't believe it," Vithya told The Indian Express. The performance instilled enough confidence in Vithya to finally decide to seek an appointment with Indian Olympic Association president Usha who was in Chandigarh a day back for the Grand Prix. "I really wanted to meet her and seek her blessings but I was told she took an early morning flight today. I have seen her many times during competitions but I always got overwhelmed and could never muster the courage to walk up to her. But today I wanted to," said Vithya who hails from Coimbatore. Vithya, who is now only the second woman from the country to run a sub 56s 400m hurdles, had clocked 56.01 at the Interstate Meet in Bhubaneswar in June. Her performance today has earned her the second spot on the Asia season best list just behind Nigeria-born Bahrain runner Kemi Adekoya who holds the area record. Vithya’s blistering performance just weeks ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games augurs well for India. “We will have some tough competition at the Asian Games but we are confident of finishing on the podium. I feel Vithya can secure a silver medal for sure,” said coach Nehpal Singh who has been training Vithya for almost two years now. Improving stamina When Vithya left the national camp to train under Nehpal she was clocking in the 58s region. Her best timings of 2021 was 58.47s. But Nehpal, a former athlete, who trains athletes at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru stadium saw the potential in Vithya. The first major area that he decided to work on was Vithya’s endurance. “She did not know how to pace her run and would always fizzle out in the last 50m. So instead of 400m, we started doing 600m runs during practice and she gradually improved her endurance,” said Nehpal. But not being in the national camp came at a cost. She no longer had the cushion of free training, food and accommodation besides other allowances. Her truck driver father did not have the resources to fund her elite-level training. That’s when her best friend and identical twin Nithya stepped in. Nithya, who works with the income tax department, is also a national-level athlete and competes in the 100m hurdles. Nithya took care of her sister’s expenses until Vithya herself got employed by the Indian Railways. Apart from endurance, another area that Vithya has improved significantly is her self-confidence. She would approach the hurdles timidly instead of attacking them. “Earlier I used to try to conserve energy and go easy in the beginning but after working with Nehpal sir I have changed my approach completely. Now I just go all out from the word go and increase my pace after every hurdle,” she said. After finishing up with her post-race workout, Vithya called her sister who was following the proceedings on the Athletics Federation’s live feed on YouTube. Unlike her parents who were super pleased with the performance, Nithya wasn’t that impressed. “She was unhappy that I did not break the record. She kept on saying that it was just a micro-second and that I should have done better,” said Vithya in a lighter vein. But Vithya isn’t worried much about the national mark which coach Nehpal feels is only a matter of time. In just a few weeks she will have another opportunity and a stronger field at Hangzhou where she will not only try to emulate today’s performance but also aim to finish on the podium. “At Asian Games, there will be quality athletes who will push me and maybe I can get the record there. After that I will meet Usha ma’am for sure and seek her blessings.”
