Rajesh Ramesh Shines at Indian Open 400m Athletics Meet

Rajesh Ramesh Claims Men's 400m Title

In a remarkable display of speed, Olympian Rajesh Ramesh triumphed in the men's 400m race at the Indian Open 400m 2026 athletics meet, which took place at the LNCPE Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Saturday. Vithya Ramraj also excelled, taking the top spot in the women's category.

As reported by Olympics.com, Ramesh achieved a personal best of 45.26 seconds, becoming only the third Indian athlete to break the 46-second barrier in the 400m event.

TS Manu secured the second position with a time of 45.96 seconds, closely followed by Amoj Jacob, who finished third at 45.99 seconds.

This achievement places Ramesh among a select group of Indian quarter-milers, joining national record holder Vishal TK (45.12s) and Muhammed Anas (45.21s) as the only athletes from India to have recorded times under 46 seconds.

All three athletes surpassed the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying standard of 45.97 seconds for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games, set to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.

However, meeting the qualification criteria does not guarantee a spot on the Indian team.

In the women's 400m final, Vithya Ramraj finished first with a time of 53.31 seconds. Vijayakumari GK took second place at 53.55 seconds, while Olympian Machettira Raju Poovamma came in third with a time of 53.61 seconds.

Ramraj, whose personal best is 52.25 seconds, achieved in 2024, led a strong field where all three medalists exceeded the Asian Games qualification mark of 53.72 seconds.

The women's 400m national record remains with Hima Das, who set an impressive time of 50.79 seconds.