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Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji happy to keep learning
The 100m hurdles national record holder says criss-crossing cities to compete in competitions abroad this season has helped her grow as an athlete
When Jyothi Yarraji saw a familiar face – Tokyo Olympics 100m hurdles champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico - set the blocks in the adjacent lane at a competition in Poland, she was awestruck. “Is it for real?” she asked herself as she saw Camacho-Quinn carry herself with an air of confidence that comes with being an Olympic champion. It did affect Yarraji’s performance, but the 23-year-old has taken it as part of her learning curve.
It has been a breezy five months for Yarraji, who broke the national 100m hurdles record multiple times last year and became the rising star of Indian athletics. This year, she has been on a whirlwind tour overseas, hurdling in one competition after another and working towards consistently clocking sub 13 seconds.
“There were so many back-to-back competitions, lots of travel. We were continuously travelling and competing. In one month, I participated in six-seven competitions in different places.
“In Poland, Camacho-Quinn was next me and there were five athletes who had run under 13secs. She is my favourite athlete, so I was little confused whether to watch her or focus on myself. I panicked,” she says.
“But I see all this as a good experience. When you are competing against world’s best, top medallists, you learn so much. She had so much confidence in her skills and what she was doing, in her body language. It was like I was watching royalty the way she carried herself. It motivated me in a lot of ways.”
Though the fan in Yarraji thought of introducing herself to the Olympic champion, she held back. “It’s not a good athlete’s behaviour to disturb a fellow athlete in training.”
Yarraji says her focus this year is to consistently touch sub-13 secs and she has been getting the result.
“Last year I went below 13sec in my last race – 12.82sec at the National Games. This year, my focus was to keep my performance at sub-13 level. It worked. There were a number of meets where I was able to do that. I got the experience of how to handle mental stress, how to control my emotions, keep my focus and boost myself.”
More than anything else, she learnt how to live an athlete’s life, travelling to different destinations and yet not letting performances drop.
“I felt exhausted. I had never travelled so much. I was travelling for 3-4 hours, even 8hours with delayed flights, getting dehydrated, managing food – because you cannot have airport food. All this was a big deal for me. It was painful. But this is the life of an elite athlete. They are constantly on the move, participating in Diamond League meets and flying to the next destination. People don’t know how difficult it is.”
Despite the hectic schedule, Yarraji is primed up to give her best.
“I have worked on my speed, endurance strength. My posture was not good last year, so I worked on that as well. My coach (James Hillier) has planned everything; things are working quite well.”
Besides her pet event, the athlete from Andhra Pradesh will also compete in the 100m. “I want to compete in the relay at the Asian Games and because of that I will be participating in 100m. There are many top tournaments, I am looking forward to give my best.”
