PT Usha sees her generation’s dream come true in the Indian women’s relay

For PT Usha, India’s women’s 4x400m relay gold at the Asian Games was more than just another medal. It was a moment that brought her back to her own days on the track, while also offering a glimpse of what the next generation of Indian women can achieve.

“Tears of joy, a heart full of pride!” Usha wrote in a three-part post on X after Kiran Pahal, MR Poovamma, Prachi Chaudhary and Vithya Ramraj. won gold at the Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium on Tuesday.

“Watching our incredible storm of the women’s 4x400m relay that led to the gold medal brought back a flood of memories. I felt every step, every heartbeat and every bit of sand on the track,” she wrote.

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The emotion was understandable. Usha knows the event intimately. She was part of the Indian 4x400m relay team that won gold at the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, one of the four gold medals she won at the Games.

Almost 40 years later, another Indian quartet followed with the same result. PT Usha with the gold-winning Indian women’s 4x400m relay team. (Image: X/@PTUshaOfficial)

FROM HER GENERATION TO THE NEXT

The victory carried echoes of the gold relays that helped make the event synonymous with Indian women’s athletics at the Asian Games.

India won the 4x400m title at every Games from 2002 to 2018 before finishing second in Hangzhou. Poovamma, the most experienced member of Tuesday’s quartet, was part of the gold teams in 2014 and 2018.

This time she shared the baton with the younger generation.

And they needed every bit of that collective experience as the race tightened in the final lap. India’s women’s 4x400m relay team celebrates winning gold at the 2026 Asian Games. (Image: PTI)

India were third when Vithya Ramraj took over the baton for the anchor leg. She swept past China’s Zuo Siyu at the corner before being chased down the home straight by Bahrain’s Salwa Naser, the individual 400m champion.

Vithya held her nerve. She crossed first in 3:29.69, ahead of Bahrain 3:30.21 and China 3:31.02, before raising both arms in celebration.

It was the kind of ending that made Usha’s words about every step and every heartbeat more than just a turn of phrase.

‘HERITAGE IS IN SAFE HANDS’

“Decades ago we ran to show the world what Indian women can do. Today these champions ran to take over the world,” she wrote.

The difference in the two phrases captures what the victory meant to Usha. Her generation had to establish Indian women on the Asian athletic scene. The current generation takes over and extends this legacy.

Usha also spoke about the responsibility that comes with this legacy. PT Usha (R) with Vithya Ramraj (L) at the 2026 Asian Games. (Image: X/@PTUshaOfficial)

“You girls didn’t just win a medal, you carried the dreams of a billion people and fulfilled them beautifully,” she wrote. “The legacy of Indian athletics is in safe and fierce hands.”

The gold also ended India’s long wait for an athletics title at these Games. Six days into the athletics competition, the country’s contingent watched medal opportunities come and go without gold. The relay quartet finally delivered in the penultimate event.

But for Usha, it meant more than just ending the wait.

She had seen Indian women stand on the same stage before. She was one of them.

Now, watching from the outside, she could see a new generation taking ownership of an event that has been a part of India’s Asian Games story for decades.

“Masters, you have reduced the entire nation to tears of absolute pride. Keep flying!” Usha wrote. PT Usha was full of pride after seeing the Indian women’s relay team win gold at the 2026 Asian Games. (Image: X/@PTUshaOfficial)

There was history in that message, but also something more immediate: the joy of watching the baton passed from generation to generation and seeing the women carrying it take India back to the top.

– The end