Jyothi Yarraji makes history at Asian Games, Wins 100-meter Hurdles Event

By: WE Staff | Friday, 14 July 2023

Jyothi Yarraji secures a win in the women's 100-meter hurdles event at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Thursday that too on a wet track while it was raining heavily.

However, after she crossed the finish line, Jyothi seemed to be upset. James Hillier, her coach, mentioned the timing which was 13.09 seconds which was adequate to secure first place but not quick enough for the hurdler who had high expectations for herself.

The 23-year-old Jyothi, who is regarded as having a special talent, is the only Indian female to run under 13 seconds, and she did the same 6 times in a year. She made a record of 12.98 seconds in the Bangkok heats.

Jyothi had a struggling career where she had no money to travel and get proper coaching in the sports hostel in Hyderabad. Her father worked as a security guard and her mother worked as a cleaner in a hospital. She even received financial assistance from veteran athlete and Railways employee Karnatapu Sowjanya.

Despite facing so many challenging situations, Jyothi is now a Target Olympic Podium Scheme Athlete and is also supported by the Reliance Foundation. The Asian season is a great championship event in Bangkok but the weather was not favourable for the hurdlers. Jyothi almost fell over due to imbalance while clearing the seventh of the ten hurdles at the Supachalasai Stadium.

She was highly accomplished last year in October when she became the first Indian woman to run the 100-meter hurdles in less than 13 seconds.