National Open Athletics Championships 2022: Jyothi Yarraji breaks her previous record in 100m hurdles, clinches gold medal

Jyothi Yarraji became the first Indian to cross the finish line in less than 13 seconds in the women's 100m hurdles at the 61st National Open Athletics Championships 2022. She broke her own national record with a 12.82m run to win the gold medal in Bengaluru on Monday.

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Although, the 23-year-old had a time of 12.79s in the recently held National Games in Gujarat. However it didn't count as a national record as it came with a +2.5 m/s tailwind assist. Anything greater than 2 m/s does not count for the record. In addition, she clocked 13.17s in the heat to beat Anuradha Biswal's previous meet record of 13.38s set in 2002.

The Open season was her last event of the season. She looked determined to go all out on a high adding gold to the Inter-University, Federation Cup, and National Games titles she had already won. Jyothi later said, "I'm happy about my consistent performance… before also, it was not about a record or beating someone. I wanted to improve myself, apply good work here and today I did it. I want to continue races like this. This is also fine, my back to back sprint drills worked…so I'm happy season ended well."

However, the skies opened just an hour before the final, leaving conditions damp and the much-awaited dash delayed by 20 minutes. But Yarraji seemed unfazed, as she took the lead around the 40m mark and ended up saving more than two-tenths of a second, her previous national record of 13.04. As a result, Yaaraji now holds the four best times by an Indian woman.

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Her coach James Hillier, said she had the ability to run 'scarily fast', given the trajectory of her improvement. "It's been a coming of age season. From the first time I saw her I knew she had amazing ability. one of best athletes, if not the best I've seen. I knew she had amazing quality. . I didnt know exactly what she's gonna do, but she's just grown as a person, grown as an athlete, matured into things, handling it well, so it's been real coming of age for her. It's been an amazing season. Time for holiday now!" he chuckled.