From ACL injury to Asian Games dream: How Reliance Foundation Sports helped Jyothi Yarraji return stronger
After a year-long battle with an ACL injury, Jyothi Yarraji marked her return with victory in the women's 100m hurdles, reigniting her Asian Games ambitions with the unwavering support of Reliance Foundation Sports.
Exactly a year after her world came crashing down, Jyothi Yarraji crossed the finish line, announcing her comeback and then sank to the track in relief. The stopwatch read 12.99 seconds. The gold medal in the women's 100m hurdles at the 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships 2026 in Bhubaneswar was significant, but the emotion behind it was far greater. It was the culmination of a year spent battling injury, uncertainty and self-doubt before reclaiming her place among Asia's best.
Yarraji's comeback could hardly have been scripted better. Returning to competition after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during training last year that ruled her out of the World Championships, the national record holder not only won her pet event but also comfortably achieved the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying standard for Asian Games 2026.
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“I felt so good today. Interestingly, exactly one year back, I got injured, and today I am here clocking sub-13s. It means a lot for me,” Yarraji told the reporters after her victory. Yet, even in celebration, the perfectionist in her surfaced. “I was expecting a better race. Something around 12.6s, but that's okay,” she added.
Behind those words lies a year that tested her far beyond the track.
“Last one year was a struggling period, and I cried a lot. One point, I thought that it was going to be the end of my career,” Yarraji admitted. It was a brutally honest reflection of the mental toll that accompanied months of rehabilitation, repeated setbacks and the uncertainty every elite athlete fears after a major knee injury.
Through that difficult phase, Yarraji consistently pointed to the people and institutions that stood beside her. “My coach, supporting staff, Reliance Foundation Sports and AFI supported me all the time,” she said, acknowledging the ecosystem that kept her focused on returning stronger.
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That support has been a constant throughout her career. Since 2019, Yarraji has trained under James Hillier at the Reliance Foundation Sports’ Athletics High Performance Centre, where she evolved into India's premier hurdler, rewriting the national record, winning the Asian Games medal and becoming the country's first woman to compete in the Olympic 100m hurdles. When injury threatened to derail that progress, the same high-performance environment provided the expertise, medical care and confidence needed to turn rehabilitation into renewed belief.
A key addition during the final stages of her comeback was renowned strength and conditioning coach Wayne Lombard. “I have been working with Wayne sir, for the past two months, and his addition to the team has made a big difference. I think as my fitness improves, I will go further low in my timings," she told The Indian Express, hinting that her best performances are still to come.
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Her journey is now firmly pointed towards the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The Inter-State Championships served as a qualifying event for the continental showpiece, where Yarraji will aim to add another major medal to her collection. As she said after her return, “Three months are there for the Asian Games and I will put all my effort into rehabilitation and will bring the Asian gold medal to the country.”
For most athletes, 12.99 seconds is simply a winning time. For Jyothi Yarraji, it was proof that resilience can be measured not only in speed but in the courage to begin again. Supported by the unwavering backing of her team at Reliance Foundation Sports throughout the toughest phase of her career, India’s fastest hurdler is once again looking ahead, not at what she lost, but at what she can still achieve.
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