Tamil Nadu Announces ₹75 Lakh for Vithya Ramraj After Asian Games Relay Gold
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday announced a cash prize of ₹75 lakh for athlete Vithya Ramraj, who won a gold medal in the 4x400-metre relay at the Asian Games in Japan.
In a post on social media, the Chief Minister said the relay gold was Ms. Ramraj's third medal at the ongoing Games. He described the achievement as a matter of pride for India and for Tamil Nadu. The post did not list the other medals in her tally at the Games.
The announcement came a day after the State government said it would award her ₹30 lakh for the bronze medal she won in the 400-metre hurdles on Monday. Taken together, the two announcements commit ₹1.05 crore in cash rewards to the athlete. The higher amount for the relay gold is in keeping with the general practice of larger awards for gold medals than for bronze.
Ms. Ramraj was part of the Indian quartet that won the 4x400-metre relay. In the event, four runners each complete one lap of the track, passing a baton between them — a format in which Indian teams have historically been among the strongest in Asia. Relay results at this level are often decided by fractions of a second, and the final baton exchanges frequently determine the outcome.
The 400-metre hurdles, in which she finished third a day earlier, is the event in which she has competed for India at the international level, alongside her place in relay squads that race at continental and global meets.
Cash awards for medal winners at major international competitions are a long-standing practice in India. Both the Union government and several State governments announce such rewards after the Olympics, the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, and many States also offer jobs in government service to sportspersons who excel at that level. The amounts vary from State to State and are usually graded by the colour of the medal.
For most Indian athletes, the years of training and travel that precede a medal are funded by families, local clubs, sports authorities and, in some cases, employers such as the Railways and the armed forces. State incentives are intended to recognise both the achievement and the effort behind it, and are usually announced within days of a victory.
In recent years, Tamil Nadu has announced cash awards for athletes who win medals at international events. The announcements are typically made by the Chief Minister through social media, as was the case on Monday and Tuesday.
The 2026 Asian Games are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, and bring together athletes from across the continent in dozens of sports, from athletics and swimming to shooting, badminton, hockey and wrestling. Medals won in athletics, and relay medals in particular, are among the results most closely followed in India.
There was no immediate word on whether the State government would announce similar awards for the other members of the Indian relay team. The Chief Minister's posts focused on Ms. Ramraj's individual tally at the Games.
Details of when the prize money will be paid, and whether the announcement will be accompanied by other forms of support, were not immediately available.
