Focusing on timing rather than medal was key, says Jyoti Yarraji

A fitter and faster Jyothi Yarraji admitted she was under stress to defend her 100m hurdles title, but focusing on timing rather than the medal helped her stay calm while clinching her second successive gold at the Asian Athletics Championships on Thursday. The 25-year-old from Andhra Pradesh, an Asian Games silver medallist, clocked 12.96 seconds — a new championship record — to top the podium. The previous record of 13.04 seconds was jointly held by Kazakhstan’s Olga Shishigina (1998) and China’s Sun Yawei (2011).

Yarraji thus joined an elite list of five athletes who have defended the women’s 100m hurdles title at the Asian Championships, including Emi Akimoto of Japan (1979, 1981, 1983), Zhang Yu of China (1991, 1993), Su Yinping of China (2003, 2005) and Sun Yawei (2009, 2011).

“100 percent I wanted gold. But I focussed on timing because when you focus on medal too much, then you feel pressurised. So I shifted it on the positive side, thinking about the timing, and it worked actually,” she told reporters from Gumi.

Jyoti Yarraji had won gold in the 2023 edition with a time of 13.09 seconds. Her personal best and national record stand at 12.78.

“To be frank, another girl is also doing well here. But I haven't clocked 12.89 in this season. So, there is a little bit of stress whether I will be able to do well in the race or not,” she said.

“I am in good shape. But it is very important to finish the race on this day. So, there was a little bit of stress. But after the 10th hurdle, when I was about to finish the line, I felt that there is no one around.

I had never shouted so much in all these years after the race. I mean, with happiness. I shouted 2-3 times with sadness. But this time, with happiness, I celebrated nicely. The final, originally scheduled for 6:25 PM local time, was delayed due to rain and eventually held at 10:25 PM. With conditions far from ideal, Yarraji had to warm up in a cramped storage room near the track.

“Actually, our race was scheduled for 6.25 pm. But it rained a lot yesterday. So, they changed the event schedule to 8.25 pm. So, there was a delay of 2 hours.

“I started the warm-up a little early because I wanted a longer warm-up. So, it rained a lot in the duration. So, it rained continuously for 1-1.5 hours.

And after some time, the officials came and said that it was going to be 10.25 pm. So, there was a delay of 2 hours. So, I started thinking about how positive I could be. So, I think the warm-up was done. So, I started warming up for the final. I was thinking about what I could do. Actually, this is a 10-metre area. But all the athletes are there. So even walking was difficult. But I tried to do as much as I could. And being brave at this time would be a good benefit. And just keep moving..

In April, Yarraji suffered a hamstring injury during training after overreaching on a hurdle. She missed three weeks of training ahead of the Federation Cup, leaving her with little time to prepare for qualification to the Asian Championships.

The results, I was expecting a timing of 12.70 seconds. I'm in good shape to go for a personal best. I did a really good job. But unfortunately, due to injuries and a few ups and downs here in the Asian Championship... I mean, I don't have any problems. Everything is good. I'm fit and fast,” she said. But I rested for two hours while doing it. It rained a lot, so it wasn't a good warm-up. But I started visualizing in my brain. Since it wasn't physically possible, I started working mentally. I visualized what I could do, how I was sitting in the block, and how I was crossing every hurdle. I started visualizing everything more than 10 times. I think it worked and I am very happy.”