"It was a bitter experience, will never forget" - Asian Games medalist Jyothi Yarraji about false start controversy

India’s 100m hurdles specialist, Jyothi Yarraji, was eagerly looking forward to showcase her potential at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The 24-year-old from Andhra Pradesh was mentally and physically prepared to face stiff challenges from the two Chinese athletes at the continental games.

“My preparation was good. The main goal was to clock sub 13 seconds for the 100m hurdles final,” Jyothi recalls. “Prior to the final race, I did a good warm up and was feeling strong.”

However, she wasn’t prepared for the technical goof-up by the officials at the starting point of the final.

At the start of the women’s 100m hurdles final race on Sunday, October 1, one of the Chinese athletes, Yanni Wu, jumped the gun. Instead of penalizing the Chinese athlete for the false start, technical officials blamed Jyothi for jumping the gun and asked her to leave the track as she was disqualified for the false start. As a rule, an athlete is disqualified for the first false start.

“I was shocked to learn that. I was being made a sacrificial lamb while the home team athlete was being saved,” the Indian athlete told Sportskeeda over the phone from China. “I vehemently protested as it was not my fault.”

Jyothi said the incident didn’t affect her rhythm as she was mentally prepared to achieve a good time. The technical officials allowed the Chinese athlete to compete on the grounds that the footage of the false start would be reviewed later.

“It was a bitter experience. I will never forget in my life. Those few seconds were like going to hell and back,” Jyothi said.

According to Jyothi, she has competed in more than 10 international events this year but hadn't witnessed technical officials being biased.

“Hope the Asian Games in China will be my first bitter experience and the last. In the end, I was happy that I was able to clock 12.91 seconds,” she added.

Jyothi’s personal and season's best was 12.78s that she clocked in June during the World University Games in China.

The World Athletics technical rules should be uniform and applicable to all, Jyothi said. It shouldn’t be different for different national teams, she added.

Jyothi was happy that her bronze medal was upgraded to silver.

“Nearly 15 minutes after the race was over, I got information that the colour of my medal had changed,” she added.

Post the Hangzhou Asian Games, Jyothi plans to compete in the National Games scheduled to be held at the end of October.

“My preparation for 2024 will commence after the National Games,” she added.