National record holder quartermiler Vishal eyes podium finishes in 2026 CWG and Asian Games

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) After breaking the national record, quartermiler Vishal TK now hopes to secure a podium finish in next year's Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Vishal shattered the national record in the men's 400m event at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2025 in Chennai on Thursday en route to a gold.

"I tested myself, I did hard work and if you do hard work it will come through," Vishal told PTI in an interaction.

The 21-year-old athlete won the gold medal with a time of 45.12 seconds, eclipsing the previous national mark of 45.21s, set by Muhammed Anas Yahiya at the 2019 Czech Athletics Championships.

"Next year, I have Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and we have to work for it. I am still learning. I will end this season after this competition and the coach is already planning for the next season. My goal is to get medals in individual and relays in CWG and Asian Games," he added.

Vishal's previous best was 45.57s while finishing fourth at the 2025 Asian Championships in May in South Korea where he was a member of India's gold-winning mixed 4x400m relay team and silver-winning men's 4x400m relay quartet.

With his 45.12s under his belt after a scorching run, Vishal became the fourth fastest Asian 400m runner of the season.

Vishal credits his achievements to his childhood coach, Srinivasan for his success.

"In 2022 and 2023, I was doing 100 and 200 metre sprint then I changed to 400m on the advice of my coach Srinivasan from Trivandrum. It was a very hard decision I made, but I knew I had to work hard for it because 400m is not an easy event. I had speed in the 100 and 200m, the only thing was that I had to work on my endurance," he said.

"It was very hard. In December last year I ran my personal best in the All India University meet clocking 46.43s and then I joined my coach, who made me break the national record. I worked with him 3-4 months off season. I just believed in him. Whatever he told me, I did. I just blindly trusted him and that's why I was able to get the national record in 400m," he added.

An alumni of Inspire Institute of Sports, Vishal also credits his success to JSW Sports, the promoters of the organisation.

"IIS and JSW have really helped me when I was in Europe. The support which IIS gave helped me break the national record. The monthly stipend which they give is helping me," he said. PTI SSC SSC UNG