From finishing last in 400m final to setting national record a year later, life comes full circle for Vishal TK

In August 2024, Vishal TK had finished last in his first 400m senior men’s final at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru with a timing of 48.59s.

A year later, the local boy raced to the finish line at the 64th Inter State Senior Athletics Championships 2025 here on Thursday, setting a National Record at 45.12s and bettering the six-year-old mark of 45.21s, which belonged to Muhammed Anas.

What led to this unbelievable improvement was the union of a hard taskmaster in Jason Dawson, the head coach of the 4x400m men’s national relay team, and a student willing to learn.

According to Dawson, Vishal had many technical flaws when he first joined the national camp in December last year. “ If you notice, he doesn’t even run like a 400m runner,” said the Jamaican.

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Dawson had to build Vishal from the beginning.

“I started with his warm-up, his stretches and his drills. Vishal never used to cycle while running. Even now, he still doesn’t know how to cycle or how to use his arms properly. His hip flexor was one of the main problems which I tried to get involved in his running. Now, he’s learning to use his hip flexor, his arm and trying to keep his shoulder in a square line when he’s running. Those are some of the changes that we’re still working on,” Dawson said.

The 21-year-old Vishal’s rise as a quartermiler is another classic case of an athlete switching from one discipline to another and getting unexpected results.

Vishal TK (Jersey No.618) winning the men’s 400 meter event at the 64th Inter State Senior Athletics Championships 2025.
| Photo Credit:
R. Ragu/ The Hindu

Until last year, he was training as a sprinter at the National Centre of Excellence in Thiruvananthapuram when his coach, R. Seenivasan, advised him to try 400m.

In 2025, Vishal dipped under 46 seconds five times.

“Coach Dawson’s training regime is result-oriented. He wanted me to train for the National Record. I just followed his instructions and produced the result,” said Vishal, who dedicated his victory to the Jamaican by writing “For my coach Jason” on the back of his bib, which he showed proudly after the LED screen at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium confirmed his record-breaking achievement.

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Vishal’s effort was not too far away from next month’s World Championships’ entry standard of 44.85s.

However, he had only two opportunities to compete in individual 400m outside India – at the Asian Championships in Korea in May, where he finished fourth in 45.57s and at a World Athletics Continental Tour (Bronze level) meet in Poland earlier this month, where he stood first, clocking 45.72s.

Aware of the quartermiler’s potential in the individual event, Dawson’s next challenge is to arrange more exposure trips for Vishal in the coming seasons and also balance it with him being a part of the revamped national 4x400m relay squad.

“I think about Vishal training with some of the Jamaican athletes but I’m not sure I’ll get that chance. So, I have to find ways to get it done. How the AFI (Athletics Federation of India) looks at and whatever their suggestion is regarding participation in more international events next season, we will try and work with it as best as possible,” he said.

Published on Aug 22, 2025