Federation Cup 2024: Vithya Ramraj pulls out of women's 400m hurdles event due to back injury 

Tamil Nadu's Vithya Ramraj, the favorite to win the women's 400m hurdles event at the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition 2024, has pulled out midway, citing a back injury.

The 25-year-old holds the joint national record in the women's 400m hurdles event with legendary P.T. Usha, with a timing of 55.42 seconds. All eyes were on the South Indian athlete with the possibility of her breaking the national record.

Vithya was among the eight athletes in the event and started the event too, riding high on confidence. However, after running a few meters, the player had to pull out of the race owing to a back injury.

In the absence of Vithya, Punjab's Veerpal Kaur bagged the gold medal with a timing of 59.43s. Salini Valuparambil Krishna from Kerala and Ramandeep Kaur from Punjab finished second and third with a time of 1:00.73s and 1:01.29s, respectively.

Here are the complete results from the women's 400m hurdles final:

1. Veerpal Kaur (Punjab) - 59.43s
2. Salini Valuparambil Krishna (Kerala) - 1:00.73s
3. Ramandeep Kaur (Punjab) - 1:01.29s
4. Geeta (Rajasthan) - 1:03.22s
5. Geeta Ramlal Devasi (Rajasthan) - 1:03.57
6. Kalyanika (Madhya Pradesh) - 1:08.66s
7. Labaya Khanam (Bangladesh) - 1:15.73s
8. R Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) - DNF

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Santhosh Kumar wins gold in men's 400m hurdles

Tamil Nadu's Santhosh Kumar bagged the gold medal in the men's 400m hurdles final with a time of 50.04s. Nikhil Bhardwaj from Punjab finished second with a time of 50.92s. Meanwhile, Gujarat's Dhaval Mahesh Utekar clinched the bronze medal with a time of 51.13s.

Here are the complete results from the men's 400m hurdles final:

1. Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu) - 50.04s
2. Nikhil Bhardwaj (Punjab) - 50.92s
3. Dhaval Mahesh Utekar (Gujarat) - 51.13s
4. Aman (Haryana) - 51.70s
5. Vijay Singh Malik (Haryana) - 52.09s
6. Sathish K (Tamil Nadu) - 52.15s
7. Aftab Alam (Uttar Pradesh) - 52.87s
8. Jerome Sanjay Nishanth J (Tamil Nadu) - 53.95s