What is sport without a little bit of drama? On Sunday, the fans witnessed plenty of it on the athletics track, which the Indian athletes set ablaze with their performances. Right from a gold by Avinash Sable in men’s 3000m steeplechase, to another one in men’s shot put by Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the fans witnessed it all.
Jyothi Yarraji vs Yanni Wu
But the moment of the day from athletics came during the women’s 100m hurdles final, where India’s Jyothi Yarraji was in contention for gold. In the final, she was up against China’s Lin Yuwei and Yanni Wu. As expected of the final, the tension among the players too was palpable, and amidst this, Wu made a false start.
The Chinese sprinter, instead of admitting her mistake, put her false start on the Indian. The officials too made a hasty decision and disqualified Yarraji. But the Indian team lodged a protest immediately, and a review of the false start was made. The replays clearly showed that Yarraji’s foot was grounded and she did not start, while the Chinese Wu was well into her stride.
Yet, the latter was allowed to compete in the race. As per what happened in the race, Wu had finished second, and Yarraji third with a time of 12.91s. But the timely protest meant, Wu was finally disqualified, and the Indian was awarded the silver.
The drama disrupted the proceedings for some time. It took unusually long for the race officials to disqualify the local runner. Anju Bobby George spoke to the reporters and said, that Yarraji could have performed even better. She went on to suggest that the Indian might have lost a bit of focus. In the end, another Chinese, Yuwei won the race with a timing of 12.74s. Japan’s Yumi Tanaka settled for bronze.
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