A video is viral on social media with the claim that Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal in the 100m hurdle race in the ongoing Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China, which started on September 23, 2023.
Singer Asha Bhosle also shared the viral clip with the caption, “Heartiest congratulations to Yaraaji from Andhra Pradesh for winning the Gold for 100mts hurdles at the Asian Games.” The tweet has over 7,90,000 views, 8,874 likes and 996 retweets. (Archive)
Heartiest congratulations to Yaraaji from Andhra Pradesh for winning the Gold for 100mts hurdles at the Asian Games 🇮🇳🥇 pic.twitter.com/QzrfhyGmfV
— ashabhosle (@ashabhosle) September 26, 2023
Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, who is a BJP leader, has shared the post with the caption, “This gold medal is true testament that dreams come true irrespective of circumstances. Way to go Jyothi Yaraaji.” The tweet received over 7,93,800 views, 13,800 likes and 728 retweets. (Archive)
This gold medal is true testament that dreams come true irrespective of circumstances. Way to go Jyothi Yaraaji 🥇 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/yIhuP0FA2Q
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 26, 2023
West Bengal BJP MP Dilip Ghosh has shared the video with the caption, “Fulfillment of the dream of a girl from a lower middle class family Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji became the first woman to win gold in the women’s 100m hurdles category at the Asian Games. Congratulations our the Golden girl Jyoti.” (Archive)
Fulfillment of the dream of a girl from a lower middle class family ♥️
Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji became the first woman to win gold 🥇 in the women’s 100m hurdles category at the Asian Games. 💪 Congratulations our the Golden girl Jyoti. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/3sqUZCp4Nq
— Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) September 26, 2023
The video and the claim also went viral on YouTube. (Archive 1,2)
Fact Check
First, we broke down the video into key-frames using Invid software and then reverse-searched one of them on Google. This led us to the same video posted by the official Twitter (now X) handle of Sports Authority of India, SAI Media, with the caption “@JyothiYarraji bags the 1st gold for India at the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships 2023 The #TOPSchemeAthlete clocked a time of 13.09s in Women’s 100m Hurdles Event Meanwhile, her counterpart Nithya Ramaraj clocked 13.55s & finished 4th at the event.”
@JyothiYarraji bags the 1⃣st🥇for 🇮🇳 at the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships 2023 🥳
The #TOPSchemeAthlete clocked a time of 13.09s in Women’s 100m Hurdles Event.
Meanwhile, her counterpart Nithya Ramaraj clocked 13.55s & finished 4⃣th at the event. pic.twitter.com/WPGCcHHoOM
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 13, 2023
A YouTube channel, Athletes Life also posted the video on July 13, 2023, titled ‘100mts HURDLES FINALS | ASIAN ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 | JYOTHI YARRAJI FROM INDIA WINS | 13.09′.which depicts that Jyothi Yarraji finishes the race at 13.09 seconds, bagging the gold medal in the 25th Asian Athletic Championship which was held in Bangkok earlier this year.
We can also see the banner of the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 at the 1:21 mark of the viral video.
According to the official website of the 19th Asian Games, competitions under the athletic category are scheduled from September 29 onward. Hence, it is clear that the hurdle race events in the Asian Games 2023 are yet to commence.
Hence, the viral claim which states that Jyothi Yarraji has bagged a gold medal in the 100m hurdle race in the Asian Games 2023 is false. The viral video is from July 2023, which relates to Yarraji bagging a gold medal in the 100m hurdle race in Asian Athletics Championships 2023.
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