Metro India News | Hyderabad

Visakhapatnam-born Jyothi Yarraji, 26, has emerged as India’s brightest star in women’s sprint hurdles, carving a niche at the continental level with her consistent brilliance. Her 12.96-second run at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, achieved under rain-affected conditions, saw her defend her 100m hurdles gold and set a new championship record, firmly establishing her as one of Asia’s most reliable hurdlers.

Born on 28 August 1999, Yarraji hails from a modest household, with her father employed as a security guard and her mother as a hospital cleaner. Her potential was first spotted at Port High School Krishna in Vizag, where her height, agility, and coordination marked her out as a hurdling prospect. Sport became her gateway out of financial constraints, and she quickly rose through local competitions, winning gold at an Andhra Pradesh inter-district meet in 2015.

Her professional training began at the SAI Centre in Hyderabad under Olympian N Ramesh, laying a strong technical foundation. A turning point came in 2019 when she moved to the Odisha Reliance Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar. Working with British coach James Hillier, she refined her hurdle clearance, sprint mechanics, and race strategy, transforming into an international competitor. This structured coaching, coupled with a holistic approach addressing mental resilience, was key to overcoming early setbacks, including repeated unratified national records and injuries.

Yarraji’s technical evolution reflects her maturity. After experimenting with a seven-stride start early in her career, she returned to an eight-stride approach, emphasizing rhythm and consistency over raw speed—a strategy that brought gold in Gumi and back-to-back Asian Championships titles. Her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, though short of a podium finish, provided valuable experience, sharpening her competitive edge.

Her rise mirrors India’s broader sporting transformation, where structured training, high-performance centres, and science-backed coaching are steadily replacing reliance on raw talent alone. Yarraji exemplifies the results of this system: sustained excellence, international recognition, and the breaking of barriers that once seemed insurmountable.

Jyothi Yarraji is India’s first woman to repeatedly run sub-13 seconds in 100m hurdles, holding the national record of 12.78 seconds. She has won gold at the Asian Athletics Championships (2023, 2025), silver at the 2022 Asian Games, and bronze at the FISU World University Games. She debuted at the Paris 2024 Olympics and was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2024 for her contributions to Indian athletics. Her journey underscores resilience, technical excellence, and India’s evolving sports infrastructure that nurtures champions.