World Athletics Championships 2023 | Jyothi Yarraji misses semis spot in 100m hurdles
Jyothi Yarraji, the nation's 100-meter hurdles record holder, came in eighth in her heat on Tuesday in Budapest, failing to advance to the semifinals of the 2023 World Athletics Championships. The 23-year-old Yarraji finished 29th overall and ninth in heat four with a subpar 13.05 second time.
The top four athletes from each of the five heats as well as the four additional fastest competitors, for a total of 24, advanced to the semifinals. The final semifinalist to qualify ran a 12.92s.
Yarraji broke her own national record and won India's first-ever 100-meter hurdles medal (bronze) earlier in August at the World University Games in Chengdu, China. She had already run sub-13 second times seven times in 2023.
She had therefore raised hopes of at least reaching the semifinals, but in her maiden World Championships, she fell short of her normal best. Kendra Harrison of the USA, who won silver in the Tokyo Olympics, set the fastest time in the world this season (12.24 seconds) to lead the semifinal qualifiers.
With Yarraji's withdrawal from the tournament, Indian athletes have now had a string of underwhelming performances in the World Championships. Avinash Sable, a 3000m steeplechaser with a national record, failed to advance to the final round on the first day of competition on Saturday after placing eighth in his heat race.
In the men's 20-kilometer race walk final, three Indians finished last, and 19-year-old Shaili Singh was unable to advance to the women's long jump final.
While none of the three Indians competing in the men's triple jump—Praveen Chithravel, Eldhose Paul, and Abdulla Aboobacker—made it to the final round, Ajay Kumar Saroj ran his personal best time of 3 minutes 38.24 seconds during the 1500-meter heats.
Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan and Sarvesh Anil Kushare both failed to advance from their individual heat races in the 400-meter hurdles and high jump events on Sunday.