BENGALURU: OVER the last few days, Vithya Ramraj has become the toast of Tamil Nadu. She has been feted and celebrated after she came back from the Asian Games with three shiny medals adorning her neck. More than the medals, she also broke PT Usha's 42-year-old 400mH national record, the longest-standing record till a week ago.
But even as the 28-year-old is being the subject of felicitation functions in Chennai, she herself is acutely aware that 'I have to achieve more to reach a world-class level'. "I'm happy with the medals but my heart isn't that content at the end of the day," she tells this daily in an interaction. "World-class athletes run the 400mH at a time of 50 or 51 seconds. Right now, I'm doing 54 to 55 seconds to cover the distance."
The hurdles specialist is self-aware enough that while 'I did break the national record, I haven't really improved (when viewed through the prism of the colour of the medal from 2023'. "At the Asian Games, I have only won bronze (the same medal I won in the same event in 2023). I didn't win gold. I'm only the third best in Asia, so I would at best qualify for the semifinals at the World Championships. I have to improve a lot more, and I have also spoken to my coach about it."
As part of that process, Ramraj and Nehpal Singh, her coach, have targeted one area. Her stride patterns. "I take 16 strides for the first five hurdles," she says. "This season, we did 16 strides between the fifth and the sixth hurdle as well. We worked on that only during the whole year. Next season our big hope is that we can do 16 strides for the first seven hurdles."
Ever since she broke Usha's record, she has had a light around her, the kind of light an athlete automatically acquires post a record-breaking feat. However, it has been a long time coming. Expectations had risen after she equalled Usha's mark in 2023, but because of various factors, she couldn't breach that mark. It's why she had some 'self doubts' over the last few years. "When a lot of people came to me and started asking," she remembers, "I started having this self doubt. But the thing is there aren't a lot of competitors in India. Only when I go to an international meet, my full effort is able to come out."