India's continental success in athletics masks a persistent gap with global benchmarks. Examine, with reference to recent Asian Games performances.

At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, Vithya Ramraj ran 54.75 s in the women's 400m hurdles. This broke P.T. Usha's national record, which had stood for 42 years [1]. Yet the same time ranks only 187th on the all-time world list [1]. Asian podiums therefore overstate where India stands in world athletics.

Continental success

• Medal haul: India won bronze in the 400m hurdles, gold in the women's 4×400m relay and silver in the mixed 4×400m relay [1].
• Breakthrough: Vithya became the first Indian woman under 55 s, improving the record by 0.67 s [1].
• Ranking gains: her world ranking rose from 56th to 35th, which helps her qualify for the Olympics [1].

The persistent global gap

• Time deficit: she is more than 4 s behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's fastest-ever 50.37 s [1].
• Even within Asia: India's best-ever time still finished 0.44 s behind the UAE's gold medallist (54.31 s) [1].
• Stagnation: Usha's mark survived more than four decades and was only equalled in 2023 [1]. Progress rests on lone athletes, not a deep talent pool.

Underlying causes

• Support that comes late and focuses on the podium: the TOPS scheme lists athletics among nine "High Priority" sports, but it targets athletes who are already medal prospects [2]. It does not widen the base of young athletes.
• Specialist deficit: relay depth reflects flat-400m strength [1]. Event-specific hurdling technique and sports-science inputs remain thin.
• Federation accountability: governance was weak until the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. It now ties central funding to recognition by a National Sports Board [3].

Way forward

• Implement the National Sports Policy 2025's "Excellence on the Global Stage" pillar. This means pathways from grassroots to elite level, world-class coaching and sports science [4].
• Have the National Sports Board audit how many athletes each federation moves up a level, not just its medal counts [3].
• Protect the credibility of records through the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill 2025 [5].
• Turn mentoring into a system: Usha's advice to "Go for 54 seconds" [1] can become written, reviewed time targets for each athlete.

Asian medals are milestones, not the end goal. If TOPS, NSP 2025 and the new governance law focus on depth rather than isolated stars, India's continental podiums can become global finals. That fits the policy's aim of making India a global sporting power [4].