Fact Check: Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraj won gold medal at Asian Athletics Championship held at Bangkok but not at Asian Games
Yarraj’s win at Asian Athletics Championships shared as a win at Asian Games
Claim :
Indian track and field athlete Jyothi Yarraj won the gold medal at the women's 100 mt hurdle at the Asian GamesFact :
Video shows Yarraj’s win at the Asian Athletics Championships. The finals for the Asian Games is yet to be held
Videos of Indian track and field athlete Jyothi Yarraj winning a race are viral on social media with the claim that she won the gold medal at the women's 100 m hurdle at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The video was shared by several social media users, including singer Asha Bhosle, via her official X (formerly Twitter) account with the caption: "Heartiest congratulations to Yaraaji from Andhra Pradesh for winning the Gold for 100 mts hurdles at the Asian Games." (archive)
Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir also took to X to congratulate Yarraj. He tweeted, “This gold medal is true testament that dreams come true irrespective of circumstances. Way to go Jyothi Yaraaji .” (archive)
FACT CHECK:
Upon paying close attention, we noticed the banner in the background reading 'Asian Athletics Championships 2023'. The 2023 Asian Athletics Championships was the 24th edition of the Asian Athletics Championships.
We then compared the logos of the Asian Athletics Championships and the Asian Games. This clearly shows the viral video is footage from the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships where Yarraj won the gold medal for the 100 meters hurdles and not from the 19th edition of Asian Games.
The Asian Athletics Championship was a five-day event held from July 12 to 16, 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, whereas The Asian Games is a two-week sports event scheduled from September 23 to October 8 in Hangzhou, China.
The difference between the two is The Asian Athletics Championship includes events related only to athletics such as javelin throw, hurdle races, long jump, shot put, and relays but Asian Games includes events related to athletics as well as other sports such as swimming, shooting, cricket, etc.
Yarraj won the gold medal for the 100 mt hurdle at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships. Her event at the Asian Games is scheduled on September 30 and the final is scheduled for October 1.
The Reliance Foundation Youth Sports handle also debunked the fake news, tweeting: “The clip that has been circulating is from her Gold Medal winning race at the Asian Athletics Championships in Thailand in July.”
Evidently, videos of Yarraji’s win at the Asian Athletics Championships earlier in the year are being wrongly shared as a win at the Asian Games underway.
