Jyothi, 1st Indian woman to break 13s barrier

BENGALURU: Jyothi Yarraji on Monday created history by becoming the first Indian woman to clock a legal sub-13 second timing in 100m hurdles and smashed her own record at the National Open Athletics Championships here.

The 23-year-old Jyothi, representing Railways, cruised to victory in 12.82 seconds and, with the wind gauge reading 0.9m/s, she could not be denied her national record timing a second time. She had won the same event at the National Games in Gandhinagar with a timing of 12.79 seconds, but was supported by wind that exceeded the permissible limit. Her earlier national record was 13.04 seconds, which was set in May.

In the final on Monday, Jyothi hit the front by the time the seven athletes got to the second hurdle and was a comfortable winner. She thus became the second fastest Asian in the event this year and earned a place just outside the continent’s all-time top-10 list.

The Railways star, who hails from Andhra Pradesh and trains in Bhubaneswar, capped a fine season, with a fumble only at the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in June. Late on Sunday evening, Parshant Singh Kanhiya (Railways) clinched the men’s pole vault meet record when he cleared 5.15m.

S Siva, who broke his own national record in the recent National Games, cleared 5.00m to concede a handsome victory to Kanhiya.