Vishal TK shattered the national record in the men’s 400m event at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2025 in Chennai on Thursday.
Competing at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the 21-year-old Indian athlete won the gold medal with a time of 45.12 seconds, eclipsing the previous national mark of 45.21, set by Muhammed Anas Yahiya at the 2019 Czech Athletics Championships.
Paris 2024 Olympian Rajesh Ramesh (46.04s) and Vikrant Panchal (46.17s) claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Vishal TK was part of the Indian relay teams that won the gold medal in the mixed 4x400m and silver in the men’s 4x400m at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi, Republic of Korea, back in May.
He had missed out on an individual medal in Gumi after finishing fourth in the men’s 400m with a time of 45.57s, which was also his previous personal best.
The 64th edition of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships also serves as the final qualifying event for Indian athletes ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo from September 13 to 21.
The entry standard for Tokyo25 in men’s 400m was 44.85s. The qualifying window closes on Sunday.
Eight finals were decided on the second day of the meet. However, none of the Indian track and field athletes managed to breach the entry standards for the World Championships.
Baranica Elangovan, however, matched the meet record in the women’s pole vault with a 4.10m jump.