Tejas Shirse and Jyothi Yarraji won gold medals for India in the 110-metre and 100-metre hurdles respectively at the World Athletics Continental Tour (Challenger level) meeting in Jyvaskyla, Finland. Both these athletes were able to break national records with their performance but fell short of breaching the Paris Qualification mark by just a matter of a few milliseconds.
Shirse, who had won the gold medal in the Harry Schulting Games in Germany broke the national record in the 110-metre hurdles with a timing of 13.41 seconds. He surpassed a 7-year-old record of Siddhanth Thingalaya, who finished the 110-metre hurdle race in 13.48 secs. However, his efforts were not enough to help him qualify for the Paris Olympics as the mark to breach is 13.27 secs.
His fellow track and field athlete Jyothi Yarraji also grabbed headlines with another gold medal-winning performance. She matched her own national record with a 12.78-sec timing, which she set in the World University Games last year. Her effort was just one-hundredth of a second short of breaching the automatic qualification mark, which is set at 12.77 secs.
Shirse and Yarraji’s consistency could help them get an Olympic Quota
Tejas Shirse and Jyothi Yarraji have worked hard over the past couple of years to get to where they are currently. Although an Olympic spot eludes them, there is no doubt that both of them have a big future ahead. While Shirse cemented himself as one of the best hurdle runners for India, Yarraji showed her brilliance by getting on the podium once again in Finland.
The duo have a few more events to try and breach the Olympic Qualification mark domestically and internationally. The final date to book their spots to get on the plane to Paris is July 30. Looking at the progress they have made, Shirse and Yarraji could both breach their respective qualifying marks and help India get two more quotas in Athletics.
