One national record, many personal bests: the highlight of Indian athletics on the penultimate day of the Asian Games.
Vithya Ramraj had unfinished business from the last Asian Games, where she equaled PT Usha’s 400 m hurdles record set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She went into the 400 m hurdles to beat that mark, and three of the women were abreast: the UAE girl sprinter to gold and a Games record, while Vithya Ramraj erased PT Usha’s mark of 55.48, clocking 54.75 sec.
Gulveer Singh, who claimed a silver in the 10000 m, came back a determined in the 1500 m, taking the lead at the bell and giving it his best. Though the Japanese outsprinted him to gold, his silver came with a personal best of 3:36.72 seconds. Others improved their personal bests: Yashveer Singh claimed silver to the world’s number one, Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka.
Seema Kalliraman also set a personal best in the women’s discus with 59.88 m, though she finished fourth. Parul, who had set a national record in the 3000 m steeplechase to claim a bronze, claimed her second bronze medal today behind Yavi of Bahrain and Tanaka of Japan. The 4 x 100 m women delighted in the heats, only to disappoint in the final with some poor baton exchanges and finish fourth.
