Indian athlete Vithya Ramraj returned from the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with three medals of three different colors. But behind the achievement is a story of years of training and the sacrifices made by her father, who worked as a truck driver to support Vithya and her twin sister Nithya. Speaking to NDTV, Vithya recalled a time when even buying running shoes was difficult for the family. She said her father would sometimes skip meals to save money for the spikes she needed for training. “Yeah, because a driver doesn’t get so much money because he would work for some others, like an owner. He will go and ask them, I want to buy Spikes for my daughter. Actually I have a twin sister also. Then they said, we will see it like that,” Vithya said.She recalled that the family was struggling financially at the time, and her father found his own way to save for the shoes. “But he always skipped the food meals. One meal was like 40 rupees or 10 rupees at that time. It was like in 2009. He would skip and drink a cup of tea or something like biscuits together. Then he will save the money too for buying me shoes like that,” she said.
30 Sept 2026 | 13:16
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Vithya said that she and her sister did not fully understand their father’s sacrifices when they were young. It was only later that they realised what he had done to support their careers. “But we never realized it in that small age. Now we are realizing it, our father, what our sacrifice he did for us. Today it’s… And we are giving back to him,” she told NDTV.
“He never had food but bought for us to eat”
Three years of training bear fruit as Vithya Ramraj wins 3 Asian Games medals, said father.
For Vithya, her father’s support was not limited to finding money for running shoes. She said he would put his daughters’ needs before his own food. “Yeah, because he never had food. He bought it for us to eat because then only we can run. So, he always sacrificed for us,” she said. Her comments came after a memorable Asian Games campaign in which she won medals in three different events.Vithya won gold in the women’s 4x400m relay, clocking 3:29.69 alongside Kiran Pahal, Machettira Poovamma and Prachi Choudhary. She also won silver in the mixed 4x400m relay, with the team recording 3:14.46. She competed alongside Manu TS, Machettira Poovamma and Vishal TK. Her third medal came in the women’s 400m hurdles, where she won bronze with a time of 54.75 seconds. The performance also saw her break PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the event.
From district competitions to international medals
She broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old national record in the 400m hurdles event.
Vithya’s father also spoke to ANI about his daughters’ journey and the progress they made over the years. “Vithya had continued her training for the past three years and had now won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal at an athletics competition in Japan, surpassing PT Usha’s record,” he said. He said Vithya and her twin sister Nithya began by competing at the district level and winning several events. Their performances eventually took them to a final competition in Tiruvannamalai. “Vithya and her sister Nithya participated in district-level competitions and won several events, following which they qualified for a final competition in Tiruvannamalai. After winning there, they were given an opportunity to stay at the Sports Hostel and undergo professional training,” he said. According to their father, the opportunity to train at the sports hostel played an important role in their progress. “Because of the support extended by everyone, my daughters were able to grow, and we too progressed in life,” he said.For Vithya, the three medals in Japan therefore represent more than the result of one competition. They also mark a moment when the sacrifices made by her father including the meals he skipped while saving for his daughters’ running shoes have become clearer to the sisters. As Vithya put it, they did not understand those sacrifices when they were children. Today, she says, they do.
