After being away from the track for more than 650 days, Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar marked his return at the Indian Open Athletics Championships in Pune with a leap of 8.05 m on Saturday, July 12. Despite the performance not being close to the World Championships Qualification mark, it was a great personal milestone for Sreeshankar, following a career-threatening injury that had sidelined the 26-year-old from action since 2023.
Sreeshankar last competed at the Asian Games at Hangzhou, after which he suffered a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his knee during a training session. The injury required Sreeshankar to undergo surgery and have an extended rehabilitation period, which forced him to miss the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was a big blow for India at the time, as it was a painful absence for one of the most promising Indian track and field athletes.
However, Sreeshankar wanted to make a big mark on Saturday and he did that. Sporting his surgery scar on his knee, the 26-year-old opened with a 7.84 m jump and slowly started to improve with each attempt. He then registered 7.99 m with his second jump and went past the 8m mark in his fourth attempt. This is when he was able to produce his best effort on the evening of 8.05 m.
An elated Sreeshankar was seen shouting ‘comeback’ after producing his best performance of the evening.
The effort fell short of the World Championships qualification mark of 8.27 m, but Sreeshankar will now be looking forward to the other meets to punch his ticket for Tokyo. The World Championships are set to take place in Japan in September.
The Indian long jumper will also be aiming to compete at next year’s Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Sreeshankar’s 8.41m still stands as one of the best performances in Indian athletics history.
– Ends
