When Jyothi Yarraji first tried the sprint hurdles seven years ago, shortly after joining the Hyderabad SAI, she used to crash into the barriers frequently. The tall girl was then asked to try the long jump, high jump and the javelin throw but she did not seem to be good at them too.
Jyothi is now India’s finest 100m hurdler ever and now, with her Asian gold in Bangkok on Thursday, she is the country’s first Continental champion in the event. India’s best at the Asians earlier had been the bronze medals won by Anuradha Biswal (in 2000) and J. Hemasree (2013).
