Asian Games 2023: Chinese athlete Yanni Wu apologises to Jyothi Yarraji over false start drama

Initially Wu, in lane 4, had a false start but to everyone’s surprise, the officials showed the disqualified card to Yarraji, who was in the adjacent lane.

China’s Yanni Wu and India’s Jyothi Yarraji shake hands after women’s 100m hurdles final. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Chinese athlete Yanni Wu on Monday apologised to India’s Jyothi Yarraji after the ‘false start controversy’ that erupted during the Sunday’s 100m hurdles final.

Initially Wu, in lane 4, had a false start but to everyone’s surprise, the officials showed the disqualified card to Yarraji, who was in the adjacent lane.

After Indian’s protest and a relook at the replays, the correct decision was made - reinstating Jyothi and DQing Wu instead.

Wu was allowed to run under the protest and finished second while Yarraji was behind her, bagging a bronze. However, the final result sheet disqualified Wu while Jyothi was awarded silver.

Now, Wu has accepted her mistake and publicly apologised to all the participants, especially “Indian player Jyothi Yarraji”.

“To the Indian player Jyothi Yarraji, who was next to me, there was a misjudgement and I’m really sorry,” she wrote on Chinese social media website Weibo.

Accepting her mistake, Wu said that she needs to work on her starting technique and readjust her mentality.