The story of Yashas P

Among the 400m hurdles finals at the Federation Cup, Karnataka’s Yashas P had a special dinction. He was the only participant to have a national-level jumps medal. The junior Federation Cup high jump medall switched to the more gruelling 400m just last year at his army coach’s insence.
At finals in Ranchi, he clocked a new personal best of 49.40s to outrun favourites Santosh and MP Jabir. His timings were also within the 49.75s Thailand Asian Championships qualification mark set the Athletics Federation of India
“I had hit my saturation level in high jump and was stuck at the 2.10m range. I didn’t have the height needed for the event so, my coach suggested I take up hurdles. He assured me that I would do well because of the explosiveness I had developed doing jumps,” Yashas said after his win on Thursday.
He had no choice but to reluctantly leave his first love. He doesn’t even take a second to respond when asked which event he enjoyed more. “High jump without a doubt. Hurdles are way tougher and more demanding. High jump is more about technique and your individual style while hurdles is a mix of technique, endurance and speed,” he said.
But it’s not just the technicalities of high jump that make it his preferred discipline but the whole aura around it. “It’s like poetry in motion. The moment you’re airborne the feeling is surreal. You open your eyes and see you’re flying above everyone like a bird. To launch yourself to such a height without any equipment… it’s just magical,” explained Yashas.
Recruited the army in 2019 for his high jump medals, he has taken a firm decision to now stick to his new discipline. Switching to hurdles wasn’t an easy task for Yashas and he is still working on fine-tuning his technique.
Initially when he leapt over the hurdles, the jumper in him would subconsciously awaken. Instead of gliding over the hurdles he made high, loopy jumps. “I used to leap way too high and wasted my time. I had to curb the jumper in me and reduce the air I was getting earlier and focus more on increasing speed,” said Yashas.
Strict parents
Although Yashas started young at school, his parents allowed him to pursue it seriously only after he turned 17. Yashas’s father, who works as a machine operator in a Parle G biscuit factory, wanted his son to study hard and qualify for a government job.
“All my aunts are government employees and my parents wanted me to follow in their footsteps,” he said.
But Yashas wasn’t willing to be part of the rat race. He harbours bigger dreams, some of them a touch extravagant. “Everyone wants to either become a doctor, engineer or just get a government job. I want to do something different and experience life. I want to someday own a Benz and travel the world,” said the 22-year-old.
Since his father works at a biscuit factory the obvious question of does he get free samples arises. “Way too much. He used to get these chocolate biscuits I would gorge on. But I ate so much that four of my teeth needed cavity filling,” he says.
Rohit records new PB
Javelin thrower Rohit Yadav made three attempts better than his previous personal best mark of 82.54m on Thursday. His best attempt of the evening was 83.40m as Manu DP finished second with a best throw of 82.95m. Both Manu and Rohit achieved the AFI qualifying guideline mark for the Asian Championships. Rohit’s training stint in the UK along with Neeraj Chopra has helped the youngster immensely.
Jyothi Yarraji yet again proved that she’s a cut above the rest finishing first in the 200m with a new personal best of 23.42s just a day after clocking her second legal sub 13 hurdles. Jyothi has run four races in three days and has produced four top races. Even though the 200m isn’t her main event, the regular sprinters couldn’t match her speed. She has reduced her 200m personal best twice in the span of two days.