NEW DELHI: Jyothi Yarraji’s indomitable spirit can fly past any hurdles that life has thrown at her. India’s fastest women hurdler, who comes from a humble background, has not only rewritten the national record in the women’s 100m hurdles which stood for nearly two decades before it was broken in May 2022, thrice, and then in October 2022, but stamped her class at the international level as well when she claimed an impressive silver in the 60m hurdles at the Asian Indoor athletics championships, clocking 8.13 seconds at the Astana meet on Sunday.
The 23-year-old from Andhra Pradesh has surmounted tremendous difficulties to attain the tag of India’s undisputable hurdles queen. Her father, Suryanarayana, works as a private security guard while her mother, Kumari, doubles up as a domestic help and a part-time cleaner at a city hospital in Visakhapatnam. Their combined meagre income of around Rs 20,000 per month wasn’t enough to sustain Jyothi’s athletics dream.
