How India’s fastest hurdler is preparing for the Olympics

livemint.com:

Weightlifting, running, stretching & spinning Yarraji has been doing exactly what Jackson prescribes for success in this extremely technical event. She puts in the hours in the gym, lifting weights and doing multiple lifts including, but not limited to, deadlifts, cleans, bench press, shoulder press, squats and lunges. Outdoor sessions include dynamic stretching, band work and drills from starting off the blocks to tackling and clearing the hurdles.

Of course, there is plenty of running and sprinting involved too. On a typical day, Yarraji could have up to three training sessions — weights in the gym, banded exercises and a track session to work on speed, technique and hurdles. This ends with a spinning cycle on a stationary bike.

That the 24-year-old has immense strength and balance is evident in the fact that in May she managed to finish the 100m hurdles in Finland in just 12.78 seconds despite her leg crashing into the last hurdle. She not only stayed on her feet but recovered and blazed past the finish line. She had suffered a minor hip flexor injury due to that collision but she is fully fit and firing now, according to her coach James Hillier.

Yarraji has also had to change her starting stance because she needed to reduce one stride (from eight strides to seven) between the starting blocks and the first hurdle after Hillier pointed out a minor issue with her posture. That is still a work in progress and Hillier was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying that she will be absolutely ready to go by the time the Olympics arrive. Jackson says when it comes to training for the Olympics, there is no real magic… it’s just working on your weaknesses and building on them slowly but surely.