Jyothi Yarraji breaks long-standing national record in women's 100m hurdles at Cyprus International Athletics Meet
A file picture of Jyothi Yarraji.
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After being refused the National Record twice before, young Indian hurdler Jyothi Yarraji made history at the Cyprus International Athletics Meet by shattering a 20-year-old record. Jyothi set a new record of 13.23 seconds in the women's 100m hurdles, breaking the previous mark of 13.38s.
Jyothi is the daughter of a private security guard and comes from a modest family. Yarraji has run faster times in the past, recording 13.03 seconds at the Inter-University Athletics Meet in January and 13.08 seconds with a wind assist of +2.1m/s at the Federation Cup last month.
However, the 22-year-old from Vizag was denied the National Record on both occasions due to evident flaws in the organization of Indian sports tournaments. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) did not test her at the Inter-University Athletics Meet, and there was no technical representative from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to verify it either. As a result, Yarraji's 13.03-second finish and subsequent National Record-breaking were not recorded.
Yarraji ran 13.08 seconds in the Federation Cup in April but was denied the National Record due to wind assistance of +2.1m/s, which was beyond the acceptable safe limit of +2m/s, costing the kid yet again.
Jyothi has finally done it and has her name in the books after winning gold in the women's 100m hurdles despite coming so close every time. Natalia Christofi of Cyprus won silver with a time of 13.34 seconds, while Anais Karagianni of Greece grabbed bronze with a time of 13.47 seconds.
