E-Paper
Murali Sreeshankar to train in US for pre-Olympic tune up
Murali Sreeshankar will also be in Europe to build up for the season's biggest competitions
A season-opening jump of 7.94m didn’t exactly make Murali Sreeshankar and his father-cum-coach S Murali happy. They had an 8m jump to begin with in mind, and considering the meticulous planning they had done for the busy and important season ahead, they were looking for every technical aspect to fall in place. Sreeshankar though has taken it positively as a strong headwind in Bengaluru during the Indian Grand Prix on Monday played havoc with his rhythm.
Sreeshankar and his father will fly to the US on Wednesday for the most important phase of his training this year. He will be based at the Texas Tech University in Lubbock till the first week of May where horizontal Jumps coach Keith Herston will guide Sreeshankar in his training. He will then travel to Chula Vista, California and Europe, including Greece, to train and compete. That will include Diamond League meets. Only in July will the 24-year-old return to India for the Inter-State meet. He expects the almost 14 weeks of training and competition to help peak for his main goal this year -- a medal at the world championships in Budapest (August 19-27) and Huangzhou Asian Games (Sept 23-Oct 8).
It is a season in which Sreeshankar will look to build on a highly successful 2022, when he rose to world No 6 on the back of some scintillating performances – silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, final at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon and consistent results in other international competitions. The high world ranking has already ensured invitations from Diamond League meets.
“It will be a very crucial season for me. Last year, the first cycle of my competition season was very good with consistent, big jumps and when it came to the world championships there was a small dip in my rhythm. This year, we don’t want to do that,” Sreeshankar said as he gets set to travel to the US.
“The main focus this year will be to win medals in major events and I need to peak correctly and execute well. Of course, I will be entering the season with the confidence of having competed with all the top jumpers last year, competing abroad and also at home, which is again no ordinary competition.”
By no means can he take the rivalry at home casually. Of course, it is healthy competition with Jeswin Aldrin taking away the national record from Sreeshankar with a huge leap of 8.42m at IIS, Ballari last month. Sreeshankar’s best, 8.36m, was achieved at the Federation Cup last year.
Sreeshankar, who was nursing a hamstring strain, started the season late. The injury he suffered at the National Games last October also affected his off-season training.
“He was coming back from injury, so we had to be careful,” said Murali. “Due to the injury, we lost two months of athletic training because we had to focus on recovery and rehabilitation. We focused more on his muscle strengthening. We started training in the last week of November and are planning to peak for the world championships and Asian Games. Before that he will compete at the Asian Championships (Pattaya, Thailand in July).”
Sreeshankar is also working on a different approach to his run up for better rhythm. It is all part of the elaborate planning for the Paris Olympics. “I will be experimenting with small changes in my approach. At the IGP, I took a few walking strides but didn't feel much comfortable. I have to discuss it with dad.
“For a jumper like me, if I get the rhythm right, I get a good jump. So, I will be trying out three or four different rhythms on the approach this year. This is the only year I can experiment with such things because next year I will have to stick to one rhythm that suits me well and continue towards the Paris Olympics. The off-season was very important in that aspect, and with my injury being there, we decided to open the season late."
Sreeshankar is excited to work with Herston, who has been advising him since 2018.
“He is a young coach, very enthusiastic. I have been in touch with him for 4-5 years now. He has a lot of ideas and collects knowledge from everywhere. There is a good professional group with him. He has coached some top athletes and it will be good to train there and have his inputs. I am looking forward to training with him."
