Jyoti Yarraji, the emerging star of Indian athletics who many times smashed the national record for the 100-meter hurdles last year, has had a smooth five months. Jyothi Yarraji was taken aback when she saw a familiar face, Tokyo Olympics 100-meter hurdles champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, put the blocks in the adjacent lane during a tournament in Poland. 

She questioned herself as she observed Camacho-Quinn handle herself with the assurance that comes with being an Olympic winner, "Is it for real?" Although it had an impact on Yarraji's performance, the 23-year-old has accepted it as part of her growth process. Yarraji, the emerging star of Indian athletics who many times smashed the national record for the 100-meter hurdles last year, has had a smooth five months. She has been hurdling in the competition after competition this year while on a whirlwind tour of other countries, striving to regularly run under 13 seconds. 

While talking to Hindustan Times she remarked, “There were so many back-to-back competitions, lots of travel. We were continuously traveling and competing. In one month, I participated in six-seven competitions in different places. In Poland, Camacho-Quinn was next to me and five athletes had run under 13secs. She is my favorite athlete, so I was a little confused whether to watch her or focus on myself. I panicked. But I see all this as a good experience. When you are competing against the world’s best, top medalists, you learn so much. She had so much confidence in her skills and what she was doing, in her body language. 

It was like I was watching royalty the way she carried herself. It motivated me in a lot of ways. Though Yarraji thought of introducing herself to the Olympic champion, she held back. “It’s not a good athlete’s behavior to disturb a fellow athlete in training. 

Yarraji claims that she has been consistently touching sub-13 seconds this year and that she is seeing the results. She gained the most insight into how to live the life of an athlete by visiting various locations without letting performances slip. She further added, “I felt exhausted. I had never traveled so much. I was traveling for 3-4 hours, even 8 hours with delayed flights, getting dehydrated, and managing food – because you cannot have airport food. All this was a big deal for me. It was painful. But this is the life of an elite athlete. 

They are constantly on the move, participating in Diamond League meets and flying to the next destination. People don’t know how difficult it is.” Yarraji is motivated to offer her best effort despite her busy schedule.