Murali Sreeshankar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Murali Sreeshankar

• Murali Sreeshankar is an Indian athlete who is specialised in the long jump event. By the age of 20, he had crossed the 8m score three times in his career.

• On 16 March 2021, he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a national record of 8.26 metres, surpassing his previous record of 8.20 metres. The qualification mark was 8.22m. He achieved this feat at the Federation Cup (Senior Athletics Championships) held in Patiala, Punjab. His previous four stats read as 8.02metre, 8.04metre, 8.07 metre, and 8.09 metre. The men long jump final was the only event scheduled on the second day of the Federation Cup 2021.

  

• He is the only Indian long jumper to qualify for the Olympics till date. Seventeen years back, Anju Bobby George missed the Olympics ticket by just a whisker at Athens. Coincidently, both are from the same state.

• During his childhood, he frequently used to run and jump on the sofa in his house in Palakkad. After qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics 2020, he etched five bold rings on the mirror in his room as the symbol of the Olympic games.

  

• For the preparation of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, his father took him to the Government Medical College ground at Palakkad in Kerala.

  

• Murali Sreeshankar won the bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships held in Gifu, Japan in 2018 by clearing the jump with 7.47 metres. Though, it was his first international title. Still, he was not satisfied, neither he celebrated the victory. It wasn’t his best performance. His best performance came at the Federation Cup in March 2018 when he cleared the jump with 7.99 metres.

  

• Before that performance, he was on the list of Indians for the Commonwealth Games 2018. But ten days prior, he was diagnosed with appendicitis. The reason being, he had to withdraw himself from the tournament.

• He got admitted to a hospital on 26th March. And after a week, when he came back home, he lost 6kg out of 65kg. It was a disastrous situation for the young lad. He told the federation that he cannot perform as per his calibre at the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship in 2018. But due to his previous performances, they still sent him. He could able to manage only sixth place with the best jump of 7.95 metres. Recalling that time, he said
  

  Initially, the doctors felt it was indigestion and sent me back with medicines for the pain. It was only after I completely collapsed that they performed an ultrasound and they diagnosed me with a ruptured appendix, For five days I was on a drip. When I finally returned home, I found I had lost six kilograms (almost ten per cent of his original body weight of 65kg). I had accepted I wouldn’t be going for the Commonwealth Games but I was hoping to do well at the World Junior Championships (in July) and at the Asian Games. It was a horrible time for me. One day you are in the best shape of your career and the next day you wake up and realise your dreams are shattered.”

• Following that setback, he did not give up and worked hard on his fitness. He recieved good support from his family. His both father and mother were former athletes during their time. Though, Sreeshankar could walk in his father footsteps by choosing triple jump as his sport but did not choose. The reason was disclosed by his father in an interview. He revealed
  

  Triple jump is an injury-prone discipline. In my career, I have suffered so many injuries. It’s a very technical sport and if you get something wrong, you’ll get injured.”

• His hard work finally paid off when he broke the national record at the National Open Athletics Championships in 2018 held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha with a jump of 8.20 metres. This jump made him the first Indian athlete to qualify for the 2019 World Athletics Championships to be scheduled in Sept-Oct at Doha, Qatar. Also, he broke the record of Ankit Sharma (8.19m) made at Almaty in 2016.

  

• But it was not all that good for this youngster. He finished a disappointing 22nd place out of 27 long jumpers at the World Athletics Championships in Doha with the best jump of 7.62meter. He leapt 7.52m at his first attempt, then 7.62m in his second, and then no mark in the final attempt. The qualifying score was 8.15m for the IAAF World Championships at Doha. Juan Miguel Echevarria of Cuba was the only one who booked that place with the jump of 8.40m.

• On 29 May 2022, he bagged a gold medal in Greece with a 7.95m jump at Venizeleia-Chania 2022 athletics meet. ^[3]The Print

• He stood on the seventh position at the 2022 World Athletics Championships after qualifying the final round and finishing a jump of 7.96 m.