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Asian Athletics Championship silver-medallist Jyothi Yarraji has overcome several challenges in her journey to represent India at the highest level in athletics.
Competing in multiple hurdles races, Jyothi is one of India's brightest prospects in upcoming tournaments such as the World Athletics Championships and Asian Games 2023.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Jyothi spoke about her progress over the years as an athlete and the difficulties she faced during the lockdown. She also spoke about her aims for the future.
Read excerpts from the interview below:
Q: How important is it to stay mentally strong while participating in so many competitions in a year?
A: It is difficult but and we can't win every competition. I accept that because in some competitions, we lose and in some, we win. I always prepare myself to do my best. For example, in the 200-meters, I did my personal best and won the silver medal. I am happy about that because I did my best. So if somebody is better than me, I accept that and I will give them the credit they deserve.
Q: What would you say has been your biggest challenge so far, right from when you started to where you are right now?
A: There have been a lot of challenges. From my family, I don't get any support because they can't afford this athletics life and they don't have any knowledge about athletics. If you look around, there are some people from a financially stable background and some who are knowledgeable. But even they don't know too much about athletics.
We are staying in Vizag in a small place. So there is nobody there to educate us, or tell us about athletics. Even now, the same problem continues. A lot of people don't know about athletics and don't understand how important it is as a sport. Everybody knows about cricket and football.
So, if my parents knew, maybe I would have started a little early and could have been doing better by now. The lack of financial support means that we can't afford shoes, spikes, food, and other things. That time I went to the SAI hostel, I faced a lot of problems.
Q: How has your coach James revolutionized your game? What is some of the advice that he's given you and which has improved your game?
A: Actually, the reason for my success, I will attribute it to the Reliance Foundation. During COVID-19, I was completely down. I didn't have any support and it was so painful at the time because I had an injury too. So, for treatment also, I didn't have any money to spend and couldn't go for quality treatment at a good hospital.
I have a muscle tear on the backside of my knee. It's a grade-three tear. So that time, I didn't have any hostels to go to also. And everything was closed outside as well. After that, slowly, everything started opening but not many academies were admitting me.
Outsiders were not allowed to go inside the camp. So, there were a lot of problems. But that time, the coach called me and he took me into the Reliance Foundation and they gave me around six months of complete treatment. At that time, I was even scared to do hurdles. I couldn't even complete the first hurdle. I was scared.
He slowly built my confidence. Even weight running was also introduced for me as I was very weak at that time. I couldn't even pick a light 20kgs bar. So, he slowly got me to do workouts. There is a big team with the Reliance Foundation - a nutritionist; and a strength and conditioning coach; along with a physio and my coach.
He always told me to believe in how much I was doing and how good I could be. He knows at which place I have to do which event. He had already planned for the Asian Championships 200-meter medal.
I didn't even expect it. I'm quite happy for the 200-meters because I did 23.13. It's a good timing but I can do better in the future. So, it's all about his plan and I believe in him.
Q: Talking about Asian Athletics Championship - two medals - one gold, one silver. How was the experience? How happy are you?
A: The experience was very good because I skid when I was doing the hurdles. On the seventh hurdle, I slipped a little bit but managed it and came first. I am very happy because I didn't miss my medal for the country and for myself and my team. I learned a bit from the conditions that were there.
Before and after the event, there is no rain. It was only in my event that suddenly, it started to rain heavily. One of my fellow racers had a false start. So, I learned from that situation about how to manage, how to control your mind, and how to be focused on yourself. I'm happy.
I'm motivated for the Asian Games. I'm looking at what I did in the recent race and addressing some technical issues. After coming back, I discussed it with the coach and we are working on those things.
Q: You mentioned how there was rain during your race and there was a false start. So how important is it to stay focused in these situations and how much has strong mental strength helped you in those situations?
A: It is 100 percent about the focus. It's a main thing because if you're not focused and feel unbalanced, anything can happen in such events. I never celebrate before reaching the line.
So, I always think when I'm training here that I need to just put that effort in. I need to use the same pattern. That's what I will think before every race because I can't suddenly perform a miracle.
Why do you train on a ground that only you will use? Some people can't put the same effort in everywhere. So, they will be nervous or sometimes they will be scared. So, I will focus on what I did in training, just rebuild the same strength and apply it there.
Q: So taking up on the Asian Games part, what is one specific thing that you're looking to improve before the Asian Games? One specific aspect of your game?
A: Timings. So, I want to improve my timing in Asian Games to do my best timing there. I'm focusing on that.
