Vizag-born athlete Jyothi Yarraji pins hopes on repechage round at Paris Olympics 2024

Visakhapatnam’s Jyothi Yarraji represented India in the first round of the 100m hurdles event in the Paris Olympics 2024 today, 7 August. However, the national record holder finished seventh in the race, with a time of 13.16 seconds, missing out on a chance to qualify for the semifinals. However, despite the circumstances, Jyothi still has a chance to get a semifinal spot through the repechage round.

Meanwhile, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico led the semifinal qualifiers with a time of 12.42 seconds. The top three athletes from each of the five heats, in addition to the next three fastest runners, secured their spots in the semifinals.

Jyothi Yarraji, born in 1999, is an Indian track and field athlete from the City of Destiny, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Born and raised in a middle-class family, Jyothi’s father is a security guard, and her mother works as a domestic servant and cleaner. Despite her humble background, her parents supported her to dream big. Jyothi is one of the first track and field athletic qualifiers to represent India. 

Fruitful hard work:

Jyothi has been training under a British coach James Hiller at Reliance Athletic High Performance Centre located in Bhubaneshwar. In recent years, she has been shining and has become a dominant player in Asian competitions. She secured a gold medal in the 100m hurdles event in the 2022 Asian Games. She bagged a gold medal in 100m hurdles, and a silver in 200m events at Asian Games as well.

The Vizag-born athlete also holds a national record in the 60m hurdles event with a timing of 8.13 seconds at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship 2023.  In the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, she came fourth in 100m hurdles with a timing of 13.18 seconds, but couldn’t make it to the semi-finals.

Jyothi Yarraji is not only India’s fastest hurdler, she is also India’s first athlete to compete in the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the Paris Olympics 2024. Interestingly, 100m hurdles have always been Jyothi’s forte.

Despite missing her chance in the first round of the 100m hurdles, the promising athlete scores a second chance in the repechage round being conducted tomorrow 

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