Who is Murali Sreeshankar: Won the Gold Medal at the 12th International Jumping Meeting in Kallithea

Who is Murali Sreeshankar: He won the gold medal at the 12th International Jumping Meeting in Kallithea, Greece, with an effort of 8.31m. He is commonly known as M. Sreeshankar. He is an Indian athlete who competes in the long jump event. 

Sreeshankar consistently jumping far. 🥇in 12th International Jumps Meeting , Kallithea, Greece, event part of World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze. Performance 8.31 meters, Legal wind🌬 @Adille1 @Media_SAI @WorldAthletics @KritikaBhasin13 pic.twitter.com/oY1Xj93gSc

— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) May 25, 2022

Murali Sreeshankar was followed by Swede Thobias Montler, who claimed silver with an 8.27m jump, and Jules Pommery of France, who bagged the bronze with an 8.17m effort in the 10-man field.

These are the only three jumpers who crossed the 8m-mark.

Meanwhile, Jeswin Aldrin finished fifth after he hit the 7.69m mark at the 17th Iberoamerican Meeting in Huelva, Spain.

Filip Pravdiva of Croatia (7.91m), Uruguay’s Emiliano Lasa (7.82m), and Peruvian José Luis Mandros (7.77m) completed the top three of the seven-man field.

READ| List of Wisden Cricketers of the Year (1889-2022)

Murali Sreeshankar's Early Life and Family

He was born to S. Murali and K.S. Bijimol in Palakkad, Kerala. His father coached him, who is a former triple jump athlete and silver medalist at the South Asian Games. In 50 and 100 metres, he became the state-lever under-10 champion. As per sources, at the age of 13, he switched from sprinting to long jumping. In the 1992 Asian Junior Athletics Championships, his mother won a silver medal. He is part of the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme that was started by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. 

Murali Sreeshankar's Career

Murali Sreeshankar cleared a 7.99m jump at the Federation Cup in Patiala in March 2018. He was also named in the Indian contingent for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He was diagnosed with appendicitis, so he had to pull out 10 days before the event in April. After recovery, he participated in the 2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Gifu. He won bronze with a jump of 7.47m. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he came sixth in the final with 7.95 metres.

He broke the national record in September 2018 at the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar. He achieved a jump of 8.20m. It made him qualify for the 2019 World Athletics Championships and become the first Indian athlete to qualify for it.

He failed to qualify for the finals at the World Championships. He achieved the best leap of 7.62m and the qualification mark set up was 8.15.

He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics by recording a jump of 8.26m. It was a new national record at the Federation Cup in Patiala in March 2021. 

He registered a jump of 7.69m at the Olympics in the qualifying round and failed to enter the final.

READ| Navjot Singh Sidhu Biography: Age, Birth, Early Life, Family, Cricket Career, Commentator, Political Timeline, and More