Murali Sreeshankar takes silver, qualifies for Paris Olympics

Taking a deep breath at the top of his mark, Murali Sreeshankar set himself to chase down Yu-Tang Lin's leading jump of 8.40m at the Asian Championships in Bangkok on Saturday. It was his sixth and final attempt and Sreeshankar, who was in second position (8.13m) by then, looked in no mood to give up. Pacing down the runway, Sreeshankar got into a good rhythm and soared high for a brilliant leap. His heart pounding with the impact of landing, Sreeshankar anxiously hovered around the pit for what he thought was a gold-medal winning jump. His 8.37m effort fell just short but with that one jump, Sreeshankar seemed to have crossed many hurdles.

It gave him the silver for sure, but more importantly, helped him crack the Paris Olympics qualification mark a year in advance. And not the least, coming under such a high-pressure situation in a competitive field, showed Sreeshankar's renewed belief in his ability.

"I was surprised when Lin jumped 8.40m. I was expecting it to be a contest around 8.20-8.25m but I am happy that I was able to hold my nerves at a big stage and come up with a good jump in my last attempt,” said Sreeshankar.

After winning the Commonwealth Games silver in Birmingham last year, Sreeshankar has produced a series of consistent performances on the international stage. He finished third at the Diamond League meet in Paris. The confidence was there to see in Bangkok as he produced a brilliant series of 8.10m, x, 8.12m, 8.11m, 8.13m, and 8.37m. Lin of Chinese Taipei won gold (8.40m). China’s Zhang Mingkun took home the bronze (8.08m).

Sreeshankar entered the competition as the top Asian and second in the world this season with a personal best of 8.41m last month at the Inter-State meet in Bhubaneswar. In Bangkok, the hot and humid conditions like Bhubaneswar were to his liking. Crossing the Paris Olympics entry standard (8.27m) was also at the top of his mind (qualification window opened on July 1).

“This season has taught me to adapt to different weather conditions. I like these conditions. Definitely, it (Olympics qualification) was a target here. I felt very good in training in Switzerland and my dad (coach S Murali) thought it was possible in this competition.” said Sreeshnkar

“Actually, I am relieved,” he added with a broad smile. “I can open the 2024 season very late and just focus on one periodisation cycle (Paris Olympics). It will give me a good time to rest, recover, start training in November, and get solid time to prepare for the Paris Olympics.”

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