Coimbatore:
Athlete from Coimbatore Vithya Ramraj, who made history at the ongoing Asian Games in Japan by breaking PT Usha's long-standing women's 400 m hurdles titles, expressed happiness over her feat and hoped that it would encourage youngsters to take up sport and gain more belief.In comments to news agency ANI, she thanked the state government and the Tamil Nadu Olympic Association for their support, acknowledging that athletes need support to reach the highest level of success.
"Without support, we cannot go to this much higher stage. We want to perform, but without support... So, the State Government support was so good. I was in the Elite scheme. In that scheme, I utilised it. Then Japan was so good. We went to Tsukuba University, it was so nice. The experience was happy," she recalled.
Vithya won three medals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games -- gold in the women's 4x400m relay, silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and bronze in the women's 400m hurdles, where she also broke the 42-year-old national record of legendary athlete PT Usha.
Vithya clocked a personal best of 54.75 seconds in the women's 400m hurdles final to win bronze and erase Usha's national record of 55.42 seconds, set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
"In the last Asian Games, I equalled it; it was different. The feeling was extremely different. But this year, I broke it, then I went for 55 seconds, the first Indian woman.
The experience was so happy because, in these three days, I was going viral—viral videos on YouTube, Instagram. So, I am happy. Before, no one knew Vithya Ramraj. Now, if I go anywhere, people see me and say, "Yeah, you are Vithya Ramraj." So, I expect that everyone coming in, youngsters, wants to do it (take up sport) and they start believing," she added.
On coaches also being felicitated by the state government, she said that the government agreed to it, saying that the coaches and athletes are equal.
On receiving encouragement from the Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin on social media, she said, "I was so happy. He is a big fan, not only in Tamil Nadu, After he posted a photo on Instagram, I got more views and more followers. So, I am so happy." (ANI)
