For Murali Sreeshankar, April has been the cruellest month.
While training for the Paris Olympics with his father and coach S Murali one recent morning, the long jumper made an infinitesimally small error. “No! No!” a voice in his head screamed as he landed and felt a shooting pain in his knee. He could feel in his heart that something had gone horribly wrong, he would later say.
A few days and multiple tests later, it was confirmed. He had injured the joint and would need surgery. He was not going to jump again in 2024. There would be no Paris Olympics for him.
“All my life, l have had the courage to look a setback in the eye, accept situations I can’t change and work hard at dictating the outcomes of those I can. Unfortunately, in what feels like a nightmare, but is a reality, my Paris Olympic Games dream is over,” he posted on social media.
What a harsh and painful truth for a 25-year-old to face, particularly one who had the season of his life last year. Sreeshankar started 2023 rubbing shoulders with the best, jumping at the World Athletics Championships and qualifying for the Diamond League finals. He won silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in July, which is when he qualified for Paris. He won silver at the Asian Games two months later. (Incidentally, in 2022, he became the first Indian in his sport to ever win silver at the Commonwealth Games.)
Paris seemed like destiny.
As that promise unravels, temporarily, it feels especially poignant that his post evokes the Serenity Prayer, versions of which bring hope to millions struggling through their own darkest moments, particularly since the tiny plea was adopted by 12-step de-addiction programmes around the world. (“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”)
For elite athletes, there are few moments darker than the one Sreeshankar now finds himself in.
The four-year Olympic cycle can be a vicious and pitiless reality check, even when everything goes to plan. Legends of heartbreak abound.
Think of US distance runner Mary Decker, setting record after record at home but unable to compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics because the US had boycotted the Games. Then comes 1984, and she is now a world record holder twice over. She is slated to win gold in the 3000m Olympic finals in LA, when she trips over the trailing foot of the runner ahead of her, falls and breaks her hip. Decker would never win an Olympic medal.
At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, British sprinter Derek Redmond was a medal favourite for the 400m. Midway through the race, he tore his hamstring and collapsed onto the track in tears. In what became one of the greatest moments in Olympic history, Redmond’s father Jim Redmond rushed to his help and, with his arm wrapped around his father’s shoulders, a tearful Derek Redmond at least crossed the finish line.
“This road is going to be long, difficult and will take a lot out of me,” Sreeshankar wrote in his post. “The good thing is, I have a lot to give. I will overcome this.... I will need your prayers, love and positive energy. I may jump alone, but it takes a collective push before every leap.”
In the best of times, it takes great courage and resilience to be an athlete; to dedicate oneself wholly, year after year, while accepting that one may never hit one’s peak in the few moments when the world is watching.
We are still watching, Sreeshankar. We’re rooting for you.
(To reach Rudraneil Sengupta with feedback, email rudraneil@gmail.com)
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