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Faster on runway, stronger in mind, Murali Sreeshankar leaps to personal best
Sreeshankar qualifies for the Asian Games and the World Championships with 8.41m in the qualifying round at the inter-state athletics championships on Sunday
The prediction came from none other than Olympic long jump champion Miltiádis Tentóglou. After watching Murali Sreeshankar’s impressive performance at the Paris Diamond League on June 10 – he came third with 8.09m -- the Greek star told his friend that he can expect a big jump soon in home conditions.
Carrying that self-belief, Sreeshankar produced an explosive 8.41m in the Inter-State Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday, shattering his previous personal best (8.36m) and the meet record (8.23m) -- also in his name -- by a big margin. He agonisingly fell short of Jeswin Aldrin's national record (8.42m). However, it was enough to take Sreeshankar past the qualifying marks for the World Championships (8.25m) and Asian Games (7.95m) set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
What is more remarkable is that two Indians - Aldrin and Sreeshankar -- now have the best two jumps in the world this season.
Sreeshankar has been quietly preparing for the busy season abroad in the last two months. He was based at the Texas Tech University in Lubbock in May, then travelled to Chula Vista, California and then to Europe for training and competition, including the Diamond League in Paris.
Coming back for the domestic season, Sreeshankar was ready to uncork a big jump. “My preparation was very good. After my performance in Paris, Tentóglou told me ‘At home you can come up with an 8.40m jump.’ He was spot on,” said a beaming Sreeshankar.
“The Diamond League was a big experience competing with some of the biggest names and finishing third. At Texas Tech University I worked with horizontal Jumps coach Keith Herston for three weeks and he fine-tuned a few things,” said Sreeshankar.
For the long jump qualification on Sunday, Sreeshankar cut down on his warm-up time to just an hour on the advice of his father and coach S Murali so as not to expend energy in the sweltering conditions here. “Dad told me not to spend too much time warming up. It was a very good suggestion and I think it helped me remain fresh for the competition,” said the 24-year-old from Palakkad, Kerala.
Murali says Sreeshankar is now more confident while competing at home because he is performing at the international stage. Last year, Sreeshankar was touching 8m consistently in meets outside India. At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, he jumped 8.08m to clinch silver. He had nine 8m plus jumps last year. At the National Games in Ahmedabad in October Sreeshankar had a hamstring injury but he returned well, and in four of the five competitions this season, he has registered 8m plus jumps. It was at the Kalinga Stadium where Sreeshankar first went past 8m -- 8.20m in 2018.
“Jumping more than 8m is not a joke. He is now doing it consistently,” says Murali. “He has worked very hard. This year, we almost came back from zero. In October he got a hamstring injury (type 2) and he was not able to walk. We focused on rehab and missed two months of athletics training. We started again in the first week of December. We plan to peak for the World Championships (Aug 19-27) and Asian Games (Sept 23-Oct 8).”
Competing in Diamond League meets and turning out against world’s top jumpers have helped develop a strong mindset.
“His mindset has changed. The block is gone. When you compete against the world's top jumpers, you feel you can match them. He is more confident now while competing at home. He is in good shape.
“We focused on his running technique. Previously, he used to open his legs too long while running. Now he is taking shorter steps. He has naturally long strides so he would plant 20-21 steps. It goes too long, around 48 metres. We first changed that to 19 steps. We have now changed the stride pattern. The idea is not to throw his legs fully, but take quick, short steps. So, now his approach run is less than 45 metres. It makes him faster,” said Murali.
“In Texas, we focused a lot on his speed in the last 10 metres. Though today he made it look very easy and comfortable, he was at least 12 cm off the board.”
While Sreeshankar made the cut for the Asian Games in his first attempt, Aldrin’s best was 7.83m – still some distance away from the 7.95m qualifying mark. He will be looking to breach that in the final on Monday.
Sreeshankar will next take part in the Lausanne Diamond League on June 30 where Neeraj Chopra is also participating.
In the women's long jump preliminary round, Ancy Sojan achieved the qualification mark (6.49m) while Shaili Singh, who touched 6.76m in April, jumped 6.27m. She will have another chance to improve in the final.
The men’s javelin qualification saw three throwers -- Kishore Kumar Jena (79.96m), Shivpal Singh (79.35m), and Anuj Kalera (79.04m) meet the AFI standard of 78.23m. Rohit Yadav (76.32m) and DP Manu (76.21m) – the best throwers at home this season – will be keen to make the cut in the final on Monday.
