Murali Sreeshankar jumps huge 8.41m in National Inter-State, qualifies for World Championships

Star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar produced a huge 8.41m effort in his very first attempt in the qualifying round at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships to qualify for the World Championships, here on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Sreeshankar's jump was just 1cm shy of Jeswin Aldrin's national record of 8.42m set earlier this year.

However, the effort was Sreeshankar's personal best.

"The wind reading was fine, it was 1.5m/s. Just short of the national record but I am happy to have made this jump," Sreeshankar, who was representing Kerala, said after the event.

Aldrin was second with a best jump of 7.83m while Muhammed Anees Yahiya was third with 7.71m, as 12 long jumpers made it to the final to be held on Monday.

The Asian Games qualifying mark for the men's long jump is 7.95m.

On June 9, Sreeshankar became only the third Indian — after Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda — to win a Diamond League medal with a bronze in the Paris leg with an effort of 8.09m.

The men's long jump qualifying distance for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August is 8.25m.

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