Jyoti Yarraji suffers big blow: ruled out of Tokyo World Championship

India’s blazing hurdlers, led by the unstoppable Jyothi Yarraji, hit an emotional wall this week. During a routine training session, she suffered a freak knee injury, one so serious it’s essentially sidelined her entire 2025 season and put her dreams of the Tokyo World Championships on shaky ground.

At just 25, Jyothi isn’t just any athlete, she’s the national record holder in the 100 m hurdles (12.78 s), the first Indian woman ever to break the 13-second barrier, and a two-time Asian champion . Yet fate threw a cruel curve: Coach James Hillier described the injury candidly as “pretty bad” and “freakish,” leaving them scrambling to decide what’s next.

On Instagram, Jyothi shared that, “Due to an unfortunate injury to my knee during training a few days back, I’ve had to pause my season, Injuries are part of an athlete’s journey, just another hurdle I’m going to overcome soon. With all your support, I’ll be back stronger.”

Her season had been golden up till now, gold at the Asian Championships in Gumi with a 12.96 s run under rainy skies, double gold at Uttarakhand National Games, a Federation Cup title, and victory at the Taiwan Open in early June. Even a hamstring tweak in April couldn’t dampen her spark.

But now the big question looms, will she recover in time? The direct qualification mark for Worlds is 12.73 s, and although she could still get in via world rankings by the August 24 window, this injury may well dash that hope.

Coach Hillier had recently praised Jyothi’s body, “stronger, leaner, lowest body‑fat yet” and was confident she was primed to crush her own record. It’s heartbreaking to see such momentum stall now.

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