Background
Jyothy Yarraji was born in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on August 28, 1999, and came into athletics through school sprinting before specialising in the 100m hurdles. She studied at Acharya Nagarjuna University. She trained initially under Olympian N. Ramesh at the Sports Authority of India hostel in Hyderabad before moving to coach James Hillier. She now trains under Hillier at the Reliance Athletics High-Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar. Yarraji is India’s national record-holder and a two-time Asian champion.
Breakthrough and records
Her breakthrough came at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru in 2022, where she ran 12.82 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles — the first time an Indian woman had gone under 13 seconds, and a legal national record that still stands. She also holds the Indian indoor 60 metres hurdles record of 8.04 seconds, set in Nantes in 2025.
Current season
The 2026 season has been a comeback year, with a 12.85-second win in the 100m hurdles at IFAM Oordegem in Belgium — her fastest time of the season. She had earlier returned to competition with 12.99 seconds for gold at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar. The performances secured her Asian Games qualification after an ACL injury. She is now preparing for the 100m hurdles at the Asian Games in September.
In their own words
"The record was never the target that day. I just wanted a clean run over the last three hurdles."— Jyothi Yarraji, speaking to NNIS Sports, August 2026
