Who Is Jyothi Yarraji? Daughter Of A Security Guard Is Now A Gold Medallist At Asian Athletics Championships

Jyothi Yarraji clinched gold in the 100m women's hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships to open India's gold medals tally. In this story, know all about India's next star from Track and Field.

Jyothi Yarraji won gold at Asian Athletics Championships. Source: Twitter

Jyothi Yarraji made India proud when she clinched gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships going in Bangkok, Thailand. The 23-year-old comes from a humble background and has worked hard on her game to jump to the the top. Today, she is India’s fastest women’s hurdler and is breaking all records. Jyothi was born on August 28, 1999 in Visakhapatnan in Andhra Pradesh to Suryanarayana and Kumari. Little did her parents know that a champion was born in their family.

Growing up, Jyothi had a little means to her. Her father is a security guard while mother, a domestic help. As per Olympics.com, her parents used to earn a sum of Rs 18,000 per month to run the house. They named their daughter ‘Jyothi’, which loosely means ‘light’ in English. No wonder, the daughter has brightened up their lives. 

Historic Moment for India!

Immensely proud of #TOPScheme athlete @JyothiYarraji for etching her name in history as she clinches __'s 1st ever _in Women's 100m hurdles event at the Asian Athletics Championships.

This remarkable victory becomes even more special as it marks her_ pic.twitter.com/uKMs3p5cCk

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) July 13, 2023

How did Jyothi become a hurdler?

Jyothi went to Port High School Krishna in Vizag and when she was little, the physical education teacher in the school spotted her. Jyothi’s height made her stand out and the the teacher thought she could be a world-class hurdle one day.

Great! Jyothi Yarraji improves her Fed Cup 100m hurdles record. She clocks 12.89 secs to win gold. pic.twitter.com/IFTsQAISda

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) May 17, 2023

Jyothi’s first big leap

Jyothi grabbed the attention of the world she she won a gold medal at the  Andhra Pradesh inter-district meet. She was 15 back then. In 2016, she moved to SAI Centre in Hyderabad and got training under N Ramesh, who is an Olympian and Dronacharya Awardee. Jyothi was a work in progress for the next few years as she continued to win medals at various meets in the country.

In 2019, Jyothi got the coaching and mentorship of British coach James Hiller when she joined the Odisha Reliance Athletics High-Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar. Her performance was boosted after that. At the All India Inter-University athletics meet in Moodabidri, Karnataka, Jyothi clocked just 13.03 seconds to clinch the gold medal and set the new national record in 100m hurdles. However, that record did not got into the history books as she had not been tested by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) before the run.

But it did not break the confidence of the athlete and she has only grown bigger and bigger, in terms of achievement. Today, she has the gold medal at Asian Athletics Championships, tomorrow it could be a gold at the world’s biggest stage - the Olympics.