CM Vijay announced a ₹75 lakh incentive for Coimbatore athlete Vithya Ramraj on 29 Sep 2026 after India’s women’s 4×400m relay gold at the Asian Games — her third medal of the Games.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, announced a ₹75 lakh incentive for Coimbatore athlete Vithya Ramraj after India won gold in the women’s 4×400m relay at the Asian Games in Aichi–Nagoya, Japan, with Vithya in the team. It is her third medal of these Games — an achievement the Chief Minister described as historic.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister said that in recognition of her outstanding achievement, the Tamil Nadu government would give Vithya Ramraj its highest incentive of ₹75 lakh. He noted that this was her third medal at the ongoing Asian Games and said she had created history through her talent, hard work and dedication (Maalaimalar, TV9 Tamil).
| Event | Result | State reward |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed 4×400m relay | Silver | ₹50 lakh (announced earlier, along with teammate Vishal T.K.) |
| Women’s 400m hurdles | Bronze — 54.75 seconds, breaking P.T. Usha’s 42-year-old national record | ₹30 lakh (details) |
| Women’s 4×400m relay | Gold | ₹75 lakh (29 September) |
| Total from the Tamil Nadu government | ₹1.55 crore | |
The 400m hurdles run was the headline moment of her Games: on September 28 she clocked 54.75 seconds for bronze, breaking P.T. Usha’s national record of 55.42 seconds from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and becoming the first Indian woman to run the event in under 55 seconds (TV9 Tamil, Khel Now). She had earlier equalled that record at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Vithya Ramraj is a quarter-miler and 400m hurdler from Coimbatore. At her Asian Games debut in Hangzhou (held in 2023) she won bronze in the 400m hurdles and silver in the mixed 4×400m relay, and she represented India in the women’s 4×400m relay at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
| Athlete | Sport | Medal | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vithya Ramraj | Athletics | Women’s 4×400m relay gold | ₹75 lakh |
| Vithya Ramraj | Athletics | 400m hurdles bronze (national record) | ₹30 lakh |
| Vithya Ramraj & Vishal T.K. | Athletics | Mixed 4×400m relay silver | ₹50 lakh each |
| G. Kamalini | Cricket | Women’s team gold | ₹75 lakh |
| Joshna Chinappa & Velavan Senthilkumar | Squash | Mixed doubles bronze | ₹30 lakh each |
| Joshna Chinappa, Shameena Riyaz, Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh | Squash | Women’s and men’s team bronzes (announced 1 Oct) | ₹30 lakh each |
| Hariharan | Badminton | Men’s team bronze | ₹30 lakh |
Table updated on 2 October 2026.
Top Tamil Nadu athletes are also supported through the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu’s ELITE Sports Persons Scheme, which gives selected athletes an annual scholarship of ₹30 lakh; about 50 athletes are currently on the scheme.
Sources: Maalaimalar, TV9 Tamil, India.com, CM Vijay’s post on X.
Asian Games 2026 Sports Day 142