India's Jyothi Yarraji breaks 100m hurdles record: Decoding her profile
Jyothi Yarraji on Monday scripted history as she became the first Indian woman to clock sub-13 seconds in 100m hurdles. She notched 12.82 seconds to complete the distance, thereby winning gold at the National Open Athletics Championship in Bengaluru. The Railways athlete took 12.79 seconds at the National Games, but her timing was ruled out due to the headwind behind her. Here's more.
Yarraji aces the heats
Yarraji concluded her heats in 13.18 seconds, beating the 20-year-old record of Anuradha Biswal (13.38) set in Chennai. Later, she finished ahead of Jharkhand's Sapna Kumari and Telangana's Nandini Agasara who bagged the second and third spots, respectively. Notably, she ran the race with a wind gauge reading of 0.9 m/s, which means it was well within the allowable limits.
2022 has treated Yarraji well
According to ESPN, Yarraji broke her national record for the third time this year. She first broke Biswal's record with a timing of 13.11 seconds at Loughborough University on May 22. A few days later, she notched 13.04 seconds in Vught, Netherlands. Interestingly, she had clocked 13.09 seconds in the Federation Cup, Kozhikode, only to be denied by excessive wind speed.
'Yarraji can go 12.6 at the moment'
Yarraji's coach James Hillier lauded the Andhra Pradesh-born for breaching the 13-second mark. He, however, believes she can go a notch higher. "Based on her 100m time, she can go 12.6 at the moment. There's still 2/10ths. I think she can run scarily quick - 12.3, 12.4! I don't like to put a number on it. But she's certainly good enough," said Hillier.
Yarraji pipped Hima Das in 100m at National Games
Yarraji, who is an ardent fan of sprint legend Usain Bolt, bagged gold in the 100m race at the 2022 National Games a few weeks back. Despite a non-regular event for her, Yarraji managed to beat the likes of Hima Das and Dutee Chand, two of India's premium women sprinters. She clocked 11.51 seconds, setting a new national record.
A look at Yarraji's early life
Yarraji hails from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Her father works as a private security guard, while her mother is a part-time cleaner at the city hospital. As per The New Indian Express, it was Yarraji's physical education teacher during her school days who prompted her to become a hurdler as she is tall. She is currently studying BA History at Acharya Nagarjuna University.
