Jyothi Yarraji Wins Gold At Asian Athletics Championship, Scripts History!

On a wet track and in the pouring rain on Thursday, Indian track and field's big hope Jyothi Yarraji won the country's first ever gold in the women's 100 mete hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok. At the finish line, however Jyothi looked distraught. Her coach James Hillier put it down to her timing- 13.09 seconds on the clock - good enough for first place but not fast enough for the hurdler who has set high standards for herself.

Considered a special talent, the 23-year-old is the only woman in India to run sub-13 seconds, that too six times this year alone. In the heats at Bangkok, she had clocked 12.98 seconds.

"I had prepared really well and felt it was my day but it was my bad luck with the rain pouring. I slipped a bit after the seventh hurdle and lost the rhythm so I couldn't clock a great time I expected a new personal best today. But I am happy that I won a medal and I am really pleased with my consistency", Jyothi said after the race.

The Andhra hurdler's journey has been challenging, especially in her initial days when her mother used to work as a hospital cleaner and her father as a security guard. During her early days, Jyothi's junior coach N Ramesh helped her with money for bus tickets for the journey to the sports hostel in Hyderabad from home in Vishakapatnam. Senior athlete and Railways employee Karnatapu Sowjanya also helped her financially.

A far cry from those early days of struggle, Jyothi is now a Target Olympic Podium Scheme athlete and is also supported by the Reliance Foundation. The Asia leader was the favourite to win the title in Bangkok but the conditions made it tricky for all the hurdlers.

Jyothi did not have a great start but she was superior in the second half of the race. The 23-year-old from Visakhapatnam overcame rain and a strong challenge from Japan’s seasoned Asuka Terada and Masumi Aoki for a memorable victory. India also won two bronze medals through decathlete Tejaswin Shankar – the national high jump record holder was making his debut in the multi-eventer in a major championship – and female quartermiler Aishwarya Mishra.

Meanwhile, Ajay Kumar clinched his second Gold medal in the men's 1500 metre race at the Asian championship with a timing of 3.41.51 at the Suphachalasai National Stadium.