Vithya wins gold with new meet record, qualifies for Asian championships

Vithya Ramraj, as an Asian Games medallist, was the overwhelming favourite to win the women's 400m hurdles event at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championships. And true to her form, Vithya won the gold medal while improving the meet record and punching her ticket for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships.

The 26-year-old Tamil Nadu sprinter clocked 56.04 seconds to finish ahead of her competitors with a strong finish at Maharaja's College Stadium in Kochi on Wednesday. This was Vithya's second podium finish as she won silver in the women's 400m event on Tuesday.

The Asian Championships qualification time in women's 400m hurdles was set at 57.80 seconds. Vithya bettered the previous meet record of 57.21 seconds registered by Saritaben Gayakwad in 2019 in Patiala. Kerala's Anu R and Tamil Nadu's Ashwini R bagged the silver and bronze medals but both failed to qualify after clocking 58.26 seconds and 1:02.41, respectively.

In the men's 400m hurdles, Karnataka's Yashas P clocked 49.32 seconds to win the gold medal. However, he failed to qualify for the Asian Championships as the qualifying mark was set at 49.19 seconds.

"There was no competition, which was why I missed the Asian qualification mark," Yashas said after the race.

JSW's Subhas Das finished in second with a timing of 50.11 seconds, while Gujarat's Ruchit Mori finished third with a timing of 51.08 seconds.