"It is important for every athlete to stand for herself" - Jyothi Yarraji on her protest against 'false start disqualification' in Asian Games

Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji on Sunday, October 1 won the silver medal in the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. However, there was some drama before she eventually won the medal. Yarraji was nearly disqualified by the technical officials at the event for an alleged false start.

Apparently, it was the home favourite Wu Yaani who started off the blocks early before the trigger went off, as video footage later confirmed. The officials allowed both Yarraji and Yaani to participate in the restarted race subject to inquiry on the potential false start after the final.

Wu Yaani finished second in the race while Jyothi Yarraji came third with a timing of 12.91s. The Chinese sprinter was officially disqualified just half an hour after the race was completed and hence Yarraji’s medal was upgraded from bronze to silver.

Speaking to reporters in China after the event, the 24-year-old elaborated about the strong protest she lodged against the initial disqualification. She said:

“It is important for every athlete to stand for herself. So I did that. I could have run faster. But the controversy threw me off a bit.”

"The false allegations disturbed Jyothi Yarraji" - Anju Bobby George on false start controversy

Former woman long jumper Anju Bobby George, who is also the current vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India, explained how the false allegations affected Jyothi Yarraji’s mindset during the restarted race.

“Officials wanted to make sure that Wu is running. They disturbed Jyothi, that was our concern, otherwise she could have run much better. She was in very unstable mind and suddenly the race started but she got the silver,” Anju told reporters in China.

Jyothi Yarraji missed the qualification for the 200m event, clocking 23.78s in the round 1 heats on Sunday to finish third in her group. The Andhra Pradesh-born athlete's timing wasn’t sufficient for her to secure a spot in the final by virtue of a non-automatic qualification quota.