As rain falls and Jyothi fumbles, she wins gold in 100 m hurdles at the Asian Games

The Asian Athletics Championships were being held in Bangkok on Thursday, and India’s top track and field prospect, Jyothi Yarraji, won the women’s 100 meter hurdles race, earning her nation’s first-ever gold.

But when she crossed the finish line, Jyothi appeared upset. James Hillier, her coach, attributed it to her time, which was 13.09 seconds on the clock, which was adequate for first place but not quick enough for the hurdler who had high expectations for herself.

The 23-year-old, who is regarded as having a remarkable skill, is the only woman in India to run under 13 seconds, and she did so six times just this year. She had timed 12.98 seconds in the Bangkok heats.

“I had done a great job of planning, and I thought today was going to be my day, but the rain was pouring.” After the seventh hurdle, I lost my footing a little bit and couldn’t run very fast. Today was supposed to be a new personal best. But I’m glad I got a medal, and I’m very proud of my consistency,” Jyothi said following the race.

The journey of the Andhra hurdler has been difficult, particularly in the early years when her mother worked as a hospital cleaner and her father as a security guard.

In her early years, Jyothi’s younger coach N Ramesh gave her money for bus tickets so she could go from her home in Visakhapatnam to the sports hostel in Hyderabad. She also received financial assistance from veteran athlete and Railways employee Karnatapu Sowjanya.

Ticket collector on the local Secunderabad-Lingampally route, Sowjanya used to work there. “Since the stadium where she exercised was close to Linampally, I used to leave money with a coworker at the ticket window. After training, Jyothi would arrive and collect it. I wanted to give back because when I first started playing sports, my seniors would pool their money to buy me spikes. Sowjanya, who was a member of the 2010 4x400m Asian Indoor Championship gold-winning squad, expressed his gratitude for helping the appropriate person.

Jyothi is currently a Target Olympic Podium Scheme athlete and is also funded by the Reliance Foundation, a far cry from her early days of struggle.

The leader of the Asia season was the favorite to win the championship in Bangkok, but the conditions proved challenging for all of the hurdlers. When Jyothi cleared the seventh of ten hurdles at the Supachalasai Stadium, she almost fell over because she lost her balance.

She accomplished a feat that was previously thought to be nearly unattainable in October of last year when she became the first woman from the nation to run the 100-meter hurdles in less than 13 seconds.

Hillier said that Jyothi was fortunate that it rained in Bangkok. The coach sees to it that no practice is ever postponed due to bad weather. Amalan Borgohain said to Hiller right away after breaking the 200-meter record in Kozhikode while it was raining last April: “I broke the record because we trained in the rain.”

“I was a little shocked to see people pause practice here when it rained because I grew up in New South Wales where it always rained. When I initially noticed this, I asked the athletes to return and continue their training. I demonstrated leadership while I stood there drenched in the rain. Jyothi won today because we had to practice and be prepared for any scenario, according to the coach.

Ramesh, Jyothi’s junior coach, was also happy of her because it was him who first noticed her talent when he accepted her into the Sports Authority of India Hostel back in 2016. Ramesh supported Jyothi even though she didn’t initially show much promise of quickly rising to the top.

She had a nice height and had quick hands. She also possessed a strong sense of independence and the remarkable capacity to maintain her composure under pressure. That is why I supported her. Ramesh, who is currently the head junior national coach for India, claimed that he was the one who decided on the hurdles event for her.

India finished the second day of the Asian Championships with three gold, two bronze, and Jyothi’s medal.

Ajay Kumar Saroj, who took home the gold at the 2017 competition in Bhubaneswar, put on a tough performance to take first place in the men’s 1500-meter race in 3:41.51 seconds. After a string of unreliable performances leading up to the Asian competition, triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker added another gold to his collection with a best jump of 16.92 meters. Tejaswin Shankar, a high jump Commonwealth Games medalist (7,527 points), and 400-meter runner Aishwarya Mishra each took home the bronze in their respective events.