Who is Jyothi Yarraji? The 100 m record-setting hurdles athlete from Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji has scripted a success story, that very few with underprivileged backgrounds can dream of. 

Currently, one of India’s fastest female runners, Jyothi has won gold in the 100 m hurdle at the Asian Athletic Championship held in South Korea. She completed the race in 12.9 seconds, better than her previous record which fetched her gold in the 2023 edition of the race. 

Hailing from the coastal town of Visakhapatnam, Jyothi's father worked as a watchman and her mother was a domestic help. Despite the odds, she showed deep dedication and the will to pursue athletics as well as academics. 

She won local competitions in her childhood, demonstrating the skill to run fast in hurdle races. Her height also favoured her with an edge over competitors. A turning point in Jyothi's life came when she won the inter-district event in the state. Since then, there has been no looking back as she was offered an opportunity to train at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Hyderabad. 

For the next few years, she consistently won races and proved her mettle under the able guidance of top athletic trainers at the institute. The Reliance Foundation took her under their wings and trained her. This helped her to win at the national events. 

Hovering around 13 seconds, she had attempted to break national records multiple times. Jyothi’s story was not without setbacks. She was down and out for a couple of months due to injuries but bounced back. 

In 2022, she clocked a personal best of 12.7 seconds. The latest feat of Jyothi has won applause from people back home. 

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu posted a congratulatory message on X (formerly Twitter). “Congratulations to Jyothi Yarraji, India’s fastest woman hurdler and a shining Telugu daughter, on winning Gold in the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea. She has made the nation and Andhra Pradesh proud. I wish her continued success in the future,” he tweeted. 

YSRCP chief and former CM, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also congratulated Jyothi. In her past interviews, Jyothi said she wanted to uplift her family financially and put an end to the hardships of her parents. 

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