Sreeshankar wins gold at international jumps meet in Greece

Competing in his first outdoor international meet since the underwhelming Olympics campaign, Sreeshankar warmed up on the sunny evening with jumps of 7.88 and 7.71 metres before leaping 8.31 metres

India's premier long jumper Murali Sreeshankar won the International Jumping Meeting in Kallithea, Greece on Wednesday with an effort of 8.31 metres. The 23-year-old, who holds the national record of 8.36 metres, produced a solitary 8m-plus jump, but it was good enough to take him to the top of the podium.

The jump in Greece was Sreeshankar's second-best effort. (Getty)

Competing in his first outdoor international meet since the underwhelming Olympics campaign, Sreeshankar warmed up on the sunny evening with jumps of 7.88 and 7.71 metres before leaping 8.31 metres. It is his second-best effort, going past 8.26m that he jumped at last year's Federation Cup in Patiala.

Sweden's reigning World Indoor silver medallist Thobias Montler finished second (8.27m) while France's Jules Pommery (8.17m) completed the top three.

Sreeshankar entered the competition on back of the fine domestic form where he repeatedly breached the 8m mark. The Kerala athlete logged 8.14m and 8.17m at the season-opening Indian Open Jumps Competitions in Thiruvanthapuram before going toe to toe with Tamil Nadu's Jeswin Aldrin at the Federation Cup in Kozhikode where he broke his own national record.