ASIAN Games silver medallist and India's fastest hurdler Jyothi Yarraji is eager to bounce back from her disappointment at the Paris Olympics last year. With exposure tours and changes in training routines, the 25-year old has a sense of clarity on what she has to do. A week from Tuesday, Yarraji will be on track once again at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, and would hope to repeat her golden run she managed in Thailand two years ago.
After qualifying for the Asian meet at the Federation athletics meet in Kochi last month, Jyothi feels she has come to her 'full shape' after a minor injury. Her aim at the meet? To win gold with a sub-13 timing. "I was participating (at the Federation athletics) with an injury and I am feeling better now. My aim is to clock below 13 seconds," she told this daily. Her personal best remains at 12.78 seconds in the World University Games in Chengdu, China in 2023.
While expressing confidence over her chances in Gumi later this month, Yarraji is wary of her competitors. "Lin Yuwei of China (who won gold in 100m hurdles of the 2022 Asian Games) and the Japanese duo of Yumi Tanaka and Masumi Aoki have improved their timings. It will be a good run, I'm sure," she added.
This season, Yarraji's best timing is at 13.10s, which came at the National Games in February this year. She also broke her own record in the women's 60m hurdles with a 8.04s performance at the World Athletics Indoor tour in France.
Exposure trip
The exposure tour to South Africa with Dutch hurdlers in February this year was when she was fascinated by the 'quality of training.' "The intensity of their training, their quality facilities and infrastructure are a notch above the rest," she recalled. Meeting the likes of Nadine Visser and Femke Bol made her realise the levels of competition they are exposed. "They've been training for more than 15 years and their attention to detail is impeccable."
Jyothi views her disappointment of not making to the final of the women's 100m hurdles in the Paris Olympics in two ways. "With where I started in my career, I was happy that I made the Olympic stage," she said. "But that lingering feeling of not making the final remained. Now, I know what to do for the forthcoming meets."
The change in technique to improve timing with coach James Hillier of the Reliance Foundation did not bear fruit. "We tried changing the leading leg, from left to right. It feels like I was suddenly writing with my left arm when I should be writing with my right," she said. Because of Jyothi's long legs the number of steps taken before the first hurdle are seven. However, she felt taking eight steps helped with the frequency. "We tried that too, but with risk of injury, eight steps seems to be better option," she signed off. Whatever the number of steps she takes before the first hurdle, Jyothi's mind will be fixed on the finishing line. But as of now the main hurdle is at the Asian meet.
