Murali Sreeshankar, who is now being addressed as the star Indian long jumper by the media, has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning a silver medal in the Asian Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Sreeshankar has created history as he has become the first Indian track and field athlete to qualify for the Paris games, reported PTI. The 24-year-old long jumper cleared the Olympic qualification with his final round jump of 8.37m on the fourth and penultimate day of the continental showpiece. The Paris Games mark is 8.27m and the qualification period began on July 1, the report said.
“I am relieved that I have qualified for the Olympics. I will have a lot of time to prepare for the Paris Games,” Sreeshankar said in a virtual media interaction.
He further added that he thought his last jump would go beyond 8.45m. “It was a near-perfect jump with the foot landing just behind the board. It could not win gold but still happy with my performance.” Sreeshankar said.
Sreeshankar creates history
No Indian has ever won a long jump gold in the Asian Championships after TC Yohannan’s 1975 win. The last Indian long jumper to win a medal was K Prem Kumar who bagged a silver in 2013.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Rajesh Ramesh, Aishwarya Mishra, Amoj Jacob, and Subha Venkatesan erased the earlier national record of 3:15.77 seconds clocked during the 2019 World Championships.
(With PTI Inputs)