Sreeshankar, Aldrin ready for a date with destiny
Country's two best male long jumpers occupy the top two spots in the world this season, a feat that will give them confidence heading into Budapest Worlds
Murali Sreeshankar has shown all the signs of peaking at the World Championships in Budapest starting Saturday. Be it the consistency in jumping over 8m or the ability to deliver on the big stage, Sreeshankar has been impressive. Last month, he won a silver medal at the Asian Championships in a tough field. A month before in June came the big leap of 8.41m — his personal best — which puts him as the second-best jumper in the world this year.
Stunningly, the top place in the world leading list is also occupied by an Indian — Jeswin Aldrin, who leapt 8.42m early in the year at home. So, two Indians will headline the men's long jump competition at the world championships — a noteworthy feat. Going by their performance in the season, a podium finish from one of them in Budapest becomes a realistic expectation. For that to happen, they will have to absorb the pressure and measure up to an explosive field. The leading pack includes World Champion Wang Jianan, Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou — who has shown remarkable consistency and is a clear favourite for the title — Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Tang, who had a spectacular 8.40m for gold at the Asian Championships, among others. To throw some stats for perspective, in Oregon last year, Jianan's golden leap was 8.36m, Tentoglou won silver with 8.32m and Simon Ehammer's bronze came at 8.16m.
Sreeshankar has the ability to make that big leap when it matters. It came only last month when he was locked in an exciting duel with Lin Yu-Tang in Bangkok. With Lin taking the lead with a big jump, Sreeshankar had to respond and he took the fight till the very end when it seemed he had almost surged ahead in his sixth and final attempt, only to fall short by a small margin. Sreeshankar's 8.37m effort fell short to Lin's 8.40m, but it was enough to book a Paris Olympics spot for the Indian. Sreeshankar, in fact, had an exceptional series of five jumps of over 8m and it only showed how well he handled the pressure.
It will be his third World Championships and the experience should put Sreeshankar at ease. In the previous Worlds in Oregon, Sreeshankar did well to qualify for the final with a jump of 8m but finished seventh in the final (7.96m). "The World Championships and Asian Games are my main targets and I have prepared well," Sreeshankar had said after the Asian Championships.
What has been working for him this season is the explosive speed he is able to generate towards the end phase of his run-up. "If my approach is right, rhythm is right, then I can jump far. I have to be very fast in my approach. My take-off technique is very good and stable. So no matter what the speed I will be able to convert it into a good jump," he had said.
For that purpose, Sreeshankar worked under coach Keith Herston in Texas Tech University in the US in May. "We had multiple sessions only to adjust rhythm of my approach run so that we get more speed towards the end — the last 10m and take off for a big jump. I have been trying several things, like approach in a moving phase, taking 19 steps, 21 steps, different kinds of rhythm before we were able to work on one change to gain more speed on the last phase," said Sreeshankar.
Aldrin in the fray
Aldrin started his season with a spectacular leap at his training base at the Inspire Institute of Sport, Bellary at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bellary. The 8.42m — also a national record — still stands tall. However, Aldrin struggled with his form in four competitions since then. He seemed to have turned it around at the right time. At the Citius Meeting in Bern, Switzerland earlier this month, he logged a jump of 8.22m to signal a return to form. That should give him confidence going into Budapest. Whatever the circumstances on the day, Sreeshankar and Aldrin would know that repeating their season's best should be enough to put them on the podium.
