Kozhikode: Indian hurdler Jyothi Yarraji made history at the Cyprus International Athletics Meet by shattering a 20-year-old record held by Anuradha Biswal and adding her name to it.
Jyothi has set a new national record of 13.23 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles, breaking the previous mark of 13.38 seconds, and winning the gold medal in the Cyprus tournament.
Jyothi, the daughter of a private security officer, comes from a poor background and has always been a talent to watch. Yarraji had run faster times before, recording 13.03 seconds at the Inter-University Athletics Meet in January and 13.08 seconds with a +2.1m/s wind help at the Federation Cup last month.
Delighted to share that Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics HPC athlete Jyothi Yarraji has broken the 100m National Record as she wins the #Gold with a timing of 13.23s at the #Cyprus International Athletics Meet.
The previous NR was held by #Odisha Olympian, Anuradha Biswal. pic.twitter.com/3JTIUokESN
— Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) May 11, 2022
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.
