M. Sreeshankar, who received the gold medal within the males’s lengthy leap occasion, through the 62nd Nationwide inter-State athletics championship at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Monday, June 19, 2023.
With lengthy leap on the current Diamond League occurring late at evening, M. Sreeshankar missed watching Simon Ehammer make Swiss historical past in Oslo however he had a detailed take a look at the motion on Instagram the subsequent morning.
Sreeshankar, the World No. 8, needed to skip Oslo — the place Ehammer grew to become the primary Swiss male to win a Diamond League title — as he needed to be in Bhubaneswar for the inter-State Nationals that started the identical day, June 15.
The Athletics Federation of India exempted solely two athletes, Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Commonwealth Video games silver medallist steeple chaser Avinash Sable, from competing in Bhubaneswar.
M. Sreeshankar, who received the gold medal within the males’s lengthy leap occasion, celebrates through the 62nd Nationwide inter-State athletics championship at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Monday, June 19, 2023.
Solely every week earlier than Bhubaneswar, Sreeshankar made historical past when he grew to become the primary Indian lengthy jumper and the third athlete from the nation to win a Diamond League medal, with a 3rd place end in Paris behind Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou and Ehammer.
Sreeshankar didn’t grumble or groan in regards to the Oslo miss however made it clear how valuable the Paris Diamond League end was to him.
“I’m happier with my 8.09m in Paris than the 8.41m right here (in Bhubaneswar),” stated the Commonwealth Video games silver medallist, in a chat with The Hindu. By the way, India has the world’s prime two lengthy jumpers this 12 months with inter-State Nationals’ gold medallist Sreeshankar’s 8.41m, which got here within the qualification spherical, being the second-best lengthy leap on the earth this 12 months. It was only a centimetre behind 2023 world chief Jeswin Aldrin’s 8.42m which got here in Ballari in March (Jeswin took the silver in Bhubaneswar with 7.98m).
“In line with dad, technique-wise 8.41 was the perfect one I had in my life. All the pieces was good. I used to be excellent within the strategy. Was in correct sync. I took it straightforward that day and as a result of humid situations, we modified our warm-up technique,” stated Sreeshankar.
To get an concept how massive Sreeshankar’s leap is and for a comparative research, one pored over the World Athletics’ scoring desk which presents factors for all its occasions. It provides 1227 level for his 8.41m which is the same as a 9.94s 100m (Amiya Kumar Mallick’s Nationwide document 10.26s), an 8:06.81s steeple chase (Avinash Sable’s NR 8:11.20s), a 17.58m triple leap (Praveen Chithravel’s NR 17.37m) and an 88.80m javelin throw (Chopra’s NR 89.94m).
Now, after lacking Oslo, Sreeshankar’s subsequent massive job will likely be to do properly within the subsequent two Diamond League conferences in Lausanne (June 30) and Zurich (Aug 31) in order that he can qualify for the Diamond League Finals in Eugene in September.
Chopra received the javelin throw Diamond League Trophy final 12 months. What are Sreeshankar’s possibilities of pulling off an identical act?
“Ha ha… first I must have sufficient factors for the finals. Already missed Oslo… ought to do good in Lausanne and Zurich,” he stated.
A number of years in the past, one wouldn’t even have dreamt of asking athletes such questions. However Chopra’s Olympic gold has made us assume massive. And Sreeshankar is now slowly being acknowledged as one of many world’s finest lengthy jumpers by the occasion’s elite.
“Tentoglou instructed me in Paris that I’ll leap 8.40-plus on the Nationwide championship,” revealed Sreeshankar.