When Indian hurdler Jyothi Yarraji sprints on a track, the focus is on her speed and clean finishes. But then, the camera zooms in and you notice her braided hair, the pearls on her ears and acrylic nails. The glam is subtle, but it feels almost instinctive—like this is who she is, both on and off the field. “Athletics is not only about performing; it’s also about expressing yourself and enjoying the track,” says Yarraji; she has been backed by the Reliance Foundation since 2019, training under British coach James Hillier at the foundation’s high-performance centre in Bhubaneswar. As someone who won the 100m hurdles in 12.99 seconds at the 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in July this year and looked like she was having fun, you best believe her.
There is a formula that elite athletes are expected to follow through their career: train relentlessly, do away with distractions, keep your eye on the stopwatch and aim for gold. We have seen this narrative play out in movies for decades. Remember the scene in Dangal, when Aamir Khan’s character chops off his daughters’ hair so that they can focus on the game? It is a moment meant to show the audience that, in order to achieve greatness, an athlete has to do away with frivolities.
But sports—aside from performance—has been a platform where a few women have chosen to present their most authentic selves on the field. In the 1980s, track athlete Florence Griffith Joyner, also known as Flo-Jo, sprinted in one-legged leotards and manicured six-inch nails to boost her confidence. In the 2000s, tennis player Serena Williams wore catsuits and tutus to reclaim the narrative around the female athletic body. More recently, at the Paris 2024 Olympics, track and-field star Sha’Carri Richardson made long nails part of her athletic persona. And the internet is already rife with instances of Grand Slam–winner Naomi Osaka using fashion to assert her cultural identity.
Yarraji’s first brush with personal style began at home in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Watching her mother get dressed every day—adorn herself with bangles, flowers, a bindi and sindoor—encouraged Yarraji to do the same. “Watching my mother made me love getting ready.” Before she became the national record holder in 100m hurdles and a two-time Asian champion, she spent her afternoons as a child folding freshly washed saris, draping them on herself and asking her mother how she looked. She still wears her mother’s saris when she goes home for festivals. “I like her pattu saris,” she says, reminiscing about her favourite green silk sari from her mother’s wardrobe.
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