India, May 30 -- Jyothi Yarraji is not known for explosive starts. The 25-year-old typically begins steady and surges in the latter half of the race. It's not the most conventional rhythm, but it has served India's top hurdler well.

Sticking to her familiar strategy at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on Thursday, Yarraji clinched gold in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.96s, breaking the Championship record held by China's Yun Feng (12.97s) since 1998. Japan's Yumi Tanaka and China's Wu Yanni, both clocking 13.07s, followed. Yarraji was the only athlete to dip below 13 seconds in the cold and wet conditions.

Starting in Lane 7, she was slow off the blocks and remained in the bottom two until the fifth hurdle. T...