Asian Athletics: Visualisation of race during downpour keeps Jyothi on track to gold

Mumbai, May 30 (IANS) As she warmed up for the 100m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championship in Gumi, South Korea, Indian hurdler Jyothi Yarraji's thought process and preparations were rudely halted by a heavy downpour. With her warm-up interrupted as the evening session was delayed by two hours, the Indian national champion kept working on her mind, keeping it ready for the race, whenever it happened.

"As it started to rain, I kept visualising how I would go about the race, what I would do on the track, and kept thinking about the race. I also had a thorough warm-up routine to prepare myself for the race," Jyothi said in a virtual interaction after the race.

Once the sky cleared and the evening's programme was restarted, Jyothi did not get distracted by the unexpected break and went on to win the women's 1oom race with a Continental Record time of 12.06 seconds.

"My focus before the race was on visualisation and mental preparation. I visualised how I’d start and cross each hurdle in the race. I was focused on my performance. I was very focused on getting a good start. It all worked out very well for me and I’m really happy," said Jyothi.

Jyothi made the most of the situation as she brilliantly sailed over the last two hurdles to surge ahead of her rivals and crossed the finish line in a new continental record of 12.96 seconds.

On her way to gold, Jyothi improved the long-standing record of 12.97 set in 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan, by Yun Feng. The time of 12.96 seconds was Jyothi’s season best as she finished inside the 13-second barrier.

In the interaction, Jyothi shared her preparation strategy, which included visualisation techniques and a thorough warm-up routine, as she remained focused and motivated herself by thinking of a Chinese girl she had competed against previously.

She emphasised the importance of maintaining a positive mindset and concentrating on timing rather than just the hurdles.

“I would like to thank the AFI for their unstinting support. I had worked really hard in the build-up and put in a lot of effort. I had some injuries earlier, but here I felt really good. The conditions were challenging because of the rain and the delay.

Her coach, James Hillier, discussed how difficult it was for Jyothi to run and win the race because of the conditions made more difficult by the rain.

"This was a crazy competition. So we had a horrendous downpour before the race started. So just as Jyothi was getting into a warm-up, the heavens opened, there was a huge thunderstorm, the temperatures had plummeted, and the whole competition got basically postponed for two hours. So we had to deal with all that.

"We had to deal with her sitting in there doing warmups in basically a storage room, the side of the track, and it was just absolutely crazy. By the time the race finally went off at 10:20 pm (local time), two hours after it was scheduled to go off, it was really, really cold. But she dealt with it very well," said Hillier.

The coach said Thursday's race was not about the timing because of the unusual circumstances, but rather about winning it and defending the title she won in the previous edition.

"She perhaps didn't get out as well as I would have liked, but once she got into running, she was always going to win the race.

"I just told her to be close to the girls by hurdle 8, and 'if you're with the girls at hurdle 80% of the time, you're going to win'. I think I heard late that she was a little bit in the lead," he said.

Hillier said it was a tough field, and for Jyothi to come on top of it was credible.

"So it was a tough field. Two of the girls were very good. And yeah, she just shows she's a class act. It wasn't about times today, it was about racing and yeah, just really, pleased for her. So great that she got the gold and defended her title," he said.

--IANS

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