Abhishek Mishra in Chennai
On a warm evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Vishal TK ran a blistering 45.12s in the men’s 400m final at the National Senior Interstate Athletics Championship. He crossed the line well ahead of his state mate Rajesh Ramesh (46.04s) and Vikrant Panchal of Haryana (46.17s).
The 21-year-old from Tamil Nadu not only bagged gold but also shattered the national record. The previous mark of 45.21s stood for six long years in the name of Kerala’s Muhammed Anas Yahiya. Vishal bettered it by 0.09 seconds, a significant margin in a 400m.
As the timing flashed on the big screen, Vishal flipped his bib to reveal a special message for Jason Dawson, his current coach, that read, “For my coach, Jason.”
Riding on his sublime recent form, Vishal was 100% sure that he would achieve something. On Thursday, he came on to the track with the vision of a personal best in his mind, but the national record was a cherry on top for the Tamil Nadu athlete.
“I have advertised it in my mind,” said Vishal. “I saw the national record as a reward for my hard work. Even if I don’t run my personal best, I have to give my 100% and today I gave 101%.”
Prior knowledge of the JN Stadium also gave him an edge. “This is my home ground,” said Vishal. “I have studied here in Chennai for eight years and also trained here, so I knew I could give my best.”
Vishal dominated in the heats, clocking 45.78s, and continued that form in the final.
He started his career as a sprinter, running only in 100 and 200m but didn’t see any success there. At the end of the 2023 season, his former coach, Sreenivasan Ramaiah (a high-performance coach for sprinters at the NCOE Thiruvananthapuram) asked him to switch to the 400m. It was tough for Vishal to adapt initially, but slowly the results started coming.
Vishal later began training under Dawson, the Thiruvananthapuram-based Jamaican who is India’s 4×400m relay coach. At the National Open meet in Bengaluru in 2024, he finished last, clocking 48.59s.
That was just the start. “He (Dawson) is very hard working, I trust him,” said Vishal. “I started with him last year. I have been working with him for a year now. I used to follow everything he said. In the first meet, I came 8th. That was my off-season. But after that, I was always in first and second position.”
Dawson believes that Vishal is a special talent. “Vishal is a special young man who is not afraid to work,” he said. “That is why you saw the result today. Vishal brings honesty and dedication to the table, something I have always been asking of every athlete.”
For Dawson, it was not an easy task to build Vishal from scratch. When he started training under him, he had many technical flaws.
“Vishal doesn’t even know how to use the blocks,” said Dawson. “I changed his warm-up drills first. If you notice, he doesn’t even run like a 400m runner.
“Vishal doesn’t know how to cycle, and he has never really learned how to use his arms properly. These are some of the key areas we’re working on.
“Vishal is now learning to use his hip flexor properly, coordinate his arms, and keep his shoulders square while running. These changes are ongoing, and we’re continuing to work on them along with other aspects.”
Vishal is the only Indian quarter-miler in the 2025 season to dip below 46 seconds five times, and he is very confident of breaching the 45-second mark next season.
“I’ve been very consistent this year in the 400m,” he said. “I ran sub-46 seconds multiple times. The goal for next season is to break the 45 seconds barrier.”
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