Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji finished third in the women's 100m hurdles event at the Asian Games 2023 on Sunday but the 24-year-old from Visakhapatnam ended up collecting the silver medal in front of a pack HOC Stadium crowd. In a chaotic race, Yarraji crossed the finish line after two Chinese athletes, then another dash followed -- this time featuring officials from both camps. (Medal Tally | Schedule | Full Coverage | Sports News)
The silver medal was earned with its fair share of drama and controversy. Yarraji, who had initially finished third in the race, got her bronze medal upgraded to silver after Wu Yanni's disqualification for a false start.
Both Yarraji and Wu were pulled up by the officials as they were under review for the false start but the organisers decided to go ahead with the race and decided to take the call (for disqualification) post it.
At the beginning of the race, Wu was in Lane 4 whereas Yarraji was in Lane 5. Multiple replays revealed that Wu was the first to get off the blocks, followed by Yarraji, before the gun went off. That brought both under disqualification.
Both players took to the screen for the review and it was later decided by the organisers that the race would go on and the decision would be taken post it. The call left a lot of people confused as the first person to rush is disqualified under the rules and according to the replay, Yarraji was the second to move.
China's Lin Yuwei clinched the gold medal whereas Wu came in second and Yarraji came in third. Yarraji finished with a timing of 12.91 seconds while Lin finished at 12.74 seconds. However, after the race, the organisers decided to disqualify Wu and the bronze medal that Yarraji had won was upgraded to silver.
