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Amid delays, and injury setbacks, Jyothi Yarraji defended her 100m hurdles title at the Asian Championships.
Jyothi Yarraji at the Asian Athletics Championships
On a chaotic, rain-drenched night in Gumi, South Korea, India’s Jyothi Yarraji held her nerve to win gold in the 100m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships, clocking 12.96 seconds to successfully defend her title. Despite a disrupted warm-up, a thunderstorm, and the lingering effects of a hamstring injury, the 24-year-old hurdler came out on top in a tightly contested race.
“She got the win, and that’s what it was all about,” said James Hillier, Athletic Director at the Reliance Foundation and Yarraji’s coach. “This was a crazy competition. Just as Jyothi began her warm-up, the heavens opened—there was a huge thunderstorm, the temperature plummeted, and the whole event got pushed back by two hours.”
With her usual pre-race routine thrown into disarray, Yarraji adapted the only way she could—mentally.
“I had a good warm-up, but then I had to rest for two hours. It rained a lot, and I couldn’t warm up properly, so I started visualising everything—how I’m crossing each and every hurdle,” she explained. “I did that more than ten times. It helped me concentrate on my lane and stay focused.”
Hillier revealed that she had to warm up in ‘what was basically a storage room at the side of the track,’ but applauded how she adapted. “By the time the race went off at twenty past ten, it was freezing cold. She maybe didn’t get out as well as I’d have liked, but once she got into her running, I knew she would win. I told her, ‘Be close to the girls by hurdle eight—if you’re there, you’ll win.’ And she was already in the lead by then.”
Yarraji had faced her share of challenges leading up to the championship. She suffered a hamstring injury that limited her hurdling and sprinting for three weeks, but Hillier ensured she never stopped training.
“Injuries happen—it’s part of this business. We didn’t focus on what she couldn’t do, but what she could. She trained in the gym, in the pool, on the bike. I set goals to keep her competitive. And I told her, ‘Trust your numbers. You’ve hit every PB this year. Just go deliver it now.’ And she did,” Hiller told News18.com.
Yarraji herself admitted there was tension going into the race. “Another girl was doing really well this season, and I hadn’t done 12.89 yet. So yes, there was some stress. But I kept telling myself, ‘Just focus on the timing.’ When I crossed the tenth hurdle and saw no one around me, I felt so happy. I shouted after the race—something I’ve never done before out of happiness,” she added.
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