Jyothi Yarraji won’t feel any pressure at maiden Olympics in Paris: Mentor and coach Ramesh

For N. Ramesh, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) athletics coach, it was a moment of reckoning when his 24-year-old trainer Jyothi Yarraji became the first Indian to qualify in the 100m hurdles (women) for the Paris Olympics.

For the record, Yarraji clocked 12.78 seconds in a Finland event in May, just one-hundredth of a second outside the automatic qualification time of 12.77 seconds. She is at 34th in the world ranking quota list while 40 athletes will compete in the event in Paris.

“It is a dream come true, as they say. My thoughts go back to 2014 when I first spotted her during the SAI selection trials at Saroornagar Stadium in Hyderabad. The moment I saw her (she had not come with anything specific about any event), I felt because of her height, she should be good in hurdles,” Ramesh recalls in a chat with Sportstar.

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Not many will remember that it was Ramesh who mentored Satti Geetha, the sprinter from the then united Andhra Pradesh, when she was first spotted by another SAI coach M. Ranga Rao.

“Well, I remember those days when people used to make fun of me when I was training her at the Hakimpet Sports School and at Gymkhana Ground and telling them that I was preparing for the Olympics,” said a smiling Ramesh.

“So, it is no mean achievement for an Indian athlete to make it to the Olympics and that too in hurdles because it is such a technical event,” he said.

“It took a lot of time for us to mould Jyothi, who is from Vizag and born to a father who is a watchman and mother a domestic help, into a hurdler. I remember, she really struggled to get tuned to the event. There were often blood stains on her body because of the rigorous training schedule. But hats off to her indefatigable spirit, she kept pursuing her passion between 2014-19, never complained. Once she won the National under-18 women’s hurdles gold, she never really looked back,” Ramesh said.

“The Olympics qualification is the result of years of hard work, rare grit and determination to keep improving. The support system, we ensured, thanks to SAI, Gopi-Mytrah Foundation, was in place at the right time for her. The best part is she is a great learner and has terrific understanding,” the coach said.

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“Definitely, moving over to Odisha Reliance Foundation under the tutelage of James Hillier helped her cause further. Even Hillier said strong basics are the biggest strength of Jyothi,” Ramesh said.

“There is a big change now for good. In terms of attitude, technique and most importantly speed. And, also the way she prepares mentally and physically for the big events,” he said.

“I don’t think Jyothi would feel any kind of pressure, [Paris] being her maiden Olympics. Having won so many important medals in the Asian Track and Field, Asian Games and on the European circuit and also the kind of challenges she faced from childhood back home, there cannot be a bigger challenge than them for her when she enters the Paris Games,” Ramesh said.

“My advice to her is, she still has a crucial few weeks left to prepare for the Paris Olympics, to stay focused and avoid any kind of distractions. Just give your best,” he said.