Paris Olympics: I am going to war, have to be at my best, says hurdler Jyothi Yarraji

Mumbai: Young athlete Jyothi Yarraji has always been a fighter, constantly battling her way through difficulties to become the first Indian to qualify to participate in 100m hurdles at the upcoming Paris Olympic Games. Jyothi has been undergoing high-level preparations at the National High-Performance Training Centre in Poland, working with the Polish Olympic team, as she gets ready for the mega event.

The 24-year-old hurdler from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, who comes from an impoverished background as her father is a security guard and her mother a cleaning staff at a local hospital, believes the Olympics are going to be a war and she has to perform at her absolute best in Paris so that she does not have any regrets later in her life for not giving her utmost.

"So, the thing is, now I feel I am going to a war. So I have to be very, very, very good at what I'm doing. I don't want to tell after the race the mistakes that happened. I want to fix it now. So that's the reason I'm pushing my limits. Whatever it is possible for this stage and I'm trying to be the best," said Jyothi on Wednesday during an interaction organised by Reliance Foundation.

In this process of being at her best and giving her best performance, Jyothi is following a specific programme set by her coach James Hillier, the chief of Reliance Foundation's athletics programme in India. Hillier said they are working on three main things -- speed, breaking her rhythm, and building it back so fast that she looks like running "somewhat out of control".

Jyothi said she is gradually building up on all these aspects, particularly on being out of control.

"So out of the three aspects, 'out of the control' is one. So, the thing about women's hurdles is about speed. The main aspect of hurdles is coasting over the hurdles because they have a specific height. The coach always teaches me, 'When you're going to start like it, you have to feel like you (are going) downhill'. So whenever you go downhill, you have to feel like approaching very fast at the hurdles, to attack. So, if I have four repetitions, I will take them step by step so that I won't be confused," she said.

Jyothi, a silver medallist at the Asian Games in Hangzhou who has participated in a lot of events in the last 15 months to gain exposure and experience, said she will not be going for 'out of control running' from the start.

"Not from the start (of the race). I am a rhythmic runner. I am not an aggressive runner. I always like to be a little smooth. So, I am always trying to improve at a gradual rate, one point at a time."

"I always keep pushing for what I want to do today. I always try to find out my shortcomings, before the coach comes and tells me, 'Jyothi, you did this and maybe there's a mistake here'. So, I will only try to confirm it and I will tell to coach, 'Coach, did I make this mistake'. So, I will improve my knowledge and I will improve for the future what he calls the race pattern. So, that's what I always do. And it all comes from the coach and the athletes. When I'm going to competitions, I always look for the plus points, whatever the other athletes are doing, what is their great mindset? I'll take that. I like to learn those positive points," said Jyothi, who is supported by Reliance Foundation.

The Indian hurdler is one of the most improved athletes in recent times, breaking the national record on several occasions and coming close to achieving the qualification mark for the Paris Olympic Games.

Though going by her timing, Jyothi is not among medal contentions, coach James Hillier believes anything can happen if his ward manages to perform at her best in Paris.

Hillier said the pressure of the Olympics is very different from that of other competitions and he believes that even the most experienced athletes tend to make mistakes in the high-pressure cauldron that the stadium turns out to be at the Olympics.

He said Jyothi has to do her best and capitalise on mistakes made by others, which can push her into medal contention. However, he said he would be satisfied if Jyothi managed to perform at her best and not bother about the final outcome, whether she wins a medal, makes it to the final, or loses out in the early stages of competitions.

Jyothi will continue her training programme in Poland and participate in a low-key event this weekend before reaching Paris on July 29. The athletics competitions in the Paris Olympics will be held from August 1.Paris Olympics: I am going to war, have to be at my best, says hurdler Jyothi Yarraji