Jyothi Yarraji, an Indian track and field athlete, made history recently by breaking the 60m hurdles national record for the third time in two weeks during an indoor athletics meet. The event took place in France on Friday.
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Yarraji ran the distance in a time of 8.08 seconds, breaking the previous record of 8.17 seconds. She eclipsed her own record by one-hundredth of a second, set during the qualifiers of the same event earlier in the day. This is a major milestone for the Indian athlete and will certainly give her a boost in confidence heading into future competitions. Dafni Georgiou of Cyprus won the race in a photo finish with an identical time of 6.17s. Georgiou was declared the winner as she had a faster reaction time (0.145) than Yarraji (0.175).
Fans, fellow athletes, and sports experts widely praised Yarraji's performance who hailed it as a testament to her hard work, dedication, and determination. Late last month, Jyothi broke the seven-year-old national record for the women's 60m hurdles event. She clocked 8.20 seconds at an athletics meet in Denmark. Jyothi Yarraji is also the national record holder in the women's 100m hurdles event, breaking the mark multiple times.
Her impressive performance at the Inter-State Championships has also put her in contention for a place in the Indian team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships, both of which are highly competitive events. Last Saturday, both Yarraji and Borgohain competed at the Meeting Internacional Catalunya Pista Coberta. This was a World Athletics Indoor Tour Challenger level meet, in Sabadell, Spain. There, Amlan Borgohain finished fourth in the men's 60m with a time of 6.87 seconds. In the women's 60m hurdles, Jyothi Yarraji clocked 8.35 seconds to finish sixth in her final. She had recorded a time of 8.22s in the semis.
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Moreover, both Jyothi Yarraji and Borgohain will compete at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. This will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan later this month.