Jyoti Yaraji won the silver medal in the women’s hurdle race at the Asian GamesJyoti paid tribute to her mentor in a special way on the podium
E Delhi. The Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China were historic for India. For the first time in the history of these games, India won more than 100 medals. India won the maximum number of medals in athletics, 29. Out of these, 6 were gold medals. Jyoti Yaraji also achieved a great feat in athletics. She won the silver medal in the 100 meter hurdles of the Asian Games.
When Jyoti reached the podium after winning the medal, she was holding her bib in her hand, on which was written, “This is for you Gautam. We are missing you.” In fact, the Sai Gautam whom Jyoti had mentioned was himself a national level athlete and Jyoti’s mentor. Gautam died in a road accident in August this year. This is the reason why when Jyoti won the silver medal in the Asian Games, she became emotional remembering her mentor and paid tribute in this way.
Jyoti lost her mentor in a road accident
Let us tell you that before the Asian Games, Gautam died in a road accident in Kakinada. Therefore, Jyoti wanted to win a gold medal in the Asian Games so that she could pay true tribute to her mentor.
I wrote a message to pay tribute to Gautam: Jyoti
Jyoti told the Indian Express, “I wanted to win a gold medal for Gautam in the Asian Games. But it could not happen. Writing a message on the bib was my way of paying tribute to Gautam. I wanted to dedicate my medal to him. He always stood up for me. He always inspired and encouraged me.”
‘Gautam was also the first one to recognize my talent’
Jyoti remembers Gautam and says, “He was the first person who told me that I had talent. He had come to a relative’s house in my hometown Visakhapatnam. Here he saw me training in the field. This was in 2015. I had just started at that time. He then told me that there is a Sports Authority of India hostel in Hyderabad for talented athletes. Gautam also got me admitted in the hostel and taught me the nuances of hurdle race like a mentor.”
I had come to fulfill Gautam’s dream
Jyoti was in Mumbai when she got the news of Gautam’s accident. She immediately reached Kakinada so that she could be with him in this difficult time. Jyoti said, “I went to see him (Gautam). He was in the hospital for 4 days. He was in the ICU. There was a blood clot in his brain. He was unable to even move. After this, everyone told me that I should fulfill Gautam’s dream. I reached the Asian Games with this intention and won the silver medal.”
Jyoti got the silver medal after the controversy
Let us tell you that in the women’s hurdle race at the Asian Games, Chinese athlete Wu Yani and India’s Jyoti Yaraji were stopped from running in the final round. Actually, Jyoti was disqualified for a false start while the mistake was made by the Chinese athlete. Later, after Jyoti’s protest, the officials allowed both of them to compete.
After this, Jyoti took part in the race and finished third with a time of 12.91 seconds. She finished second ahead of the Chinese athlete Jyoti who was disqualified earlier. But after the race was over, Indian officials protested, after which the Chinese athlete was disqualified and Jyoti’s medal was upgraded to silver.
Tags: Asian Games, Sports news
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 12, 2023, 10:22 IST