File image of Jyothi Yarraji© AFP
Jyothi Yarraji made history on Monday by becoming the first Indian woman to achieve a legal second time under 13 in the 100m hurdles, while breaking her own record at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru on Monday. Railways representative Yarraji, 23, took the win in 12.82 seconds and with an anemometer of 0.9 m/s, she could not be denied her second national record time. She had won the same event in the National Games in Gandhinagar in a time of 12.79 seconds, but was supported by winds that exceeded the allowable limit. Her previous national record was 13.04 in May.
Yarraji was unstoppable on Monday. She already held the mark with 13.18 seconds in the heats, breaking the record of 13.38 seconds set by Anuradha Biswal in Chennai 20 years ago.
In the final, she hit the front by the time the seven athletes reached the second hurdle and was a comfortable winner.
The Railways star, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and trains in Bhubaneswar, finished a fine season, with only a fumble at the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in June.
This year, she became the second fastest Asian in the event, finishing just outside the continent’s all-time top 10.
It was the third time this year that she rewrote the national record. She broke Anuradha Biswal’s national mark of 13.38 in 2002 with 13.11 at Loughborough University on 22 May.
Four days later, she raised the bar to 13.04 seconds in Vught, Netherlands. Previously, she had a 13.09 second attempt in the Federation Cup in Kozhikode, but was denied due to excessive wind speed.
promoted
Late on Sunday evening, Parshant Singh Kanhiya (Railways) claimed the men’s pole vault record when he crossed 5.15m.
S Siva, who broke his own national record at the recent National Games, cleared the 5.00m and conceded a handsome victory to Kanhiya.
Topics mentioned in this article