Five of Murali Sreeshankar’s six jumps at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok were over 8 metres, the last of them a remarkable 8.37 metres. Sreeshankar let out a roar after his final jump that sealed the silver medal last month.
A couple of weeks later, Jeswin Aldrin, the national record holder, jumped 8.22m at the Citius Meeting in Bern to finish first. Aldrin’s national record of 8.42m is the best jump in the world this year, Sreeshankar’s 8.41 the second best.
Sreeshankar, 24, and Aldrin 21, have been making waves. Sreeshankar finished third at the Diamond League in Paris. After Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda, Sreeshankar became just the third Indian athlete to finish in the top-three in a Diamond League event. Aldrin hasn’t been to the Diamond League this year yet, however he is considered a dark horse because of his ability to produce a big jump on his day.
Sreeshankar proved he can soak up the pressure when he won a Commonwealth Games silver last year but the field at the World Championships will be of a higher quality.
The Indian duo will first have to qualify for the final and given the pressure that comes with a big event, they both will have to hold their nerves and find their rhythm.
At last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Aldrin didn’t qualify for the final. Sreeshankar finished seventh in the final jumping 7.96m. Both are being tipped to medal this time around but being among the top-two jumpers in the world this year does not guarantee success at a global meet.
Sreeshankar has been aiming to find the perfect rhythm on the runway, which can make or break a jump.
“The rhythm required for a long jumper is very different. There are people who run the 100m well but if you run with the same rhythm in the long jump, you won’t be able to take off well,” he said.
At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, Sreeshankar says, he was struggling for rhythm. “In the CWG final, I got it (rhythm) only in the last three jumps,” Sreeshankar said. He jumped 8.08m in his fifth attempt to win the historic silver for India.
Recently at the Lausanne Diamond League, Sreeshankar couldn’t find his rhythm. “In Lausanne, everything was missing,” he said. Sreeshankar finished fifth with a jump of 7.88m but in Budapest he will hope to hit his stride right away.
Aldrin’s 8.22m in Bern is his second-best jump this year after his national record of 8.42m at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bellary.
Better than before
Unlike last year, when his performances dipped closer to the World Championships, Aldrin’s 8m-plus jump in Bern shows his form hasn’t tapered off.
The Athletics Federation of India had asked him to appear for two separate trials last year before he was cleared to participate in the World Championships. A year older, Aldrin has a golden opportunity to deliver on the big stage.
In the fray, however, are some proven winners.
China’s Wang Jianan won gold last year with a jump of just 8.36m but a big jump from one of the top jumpers this year could upset everyone’s predictions.
Sreeshankar starts in Group A of qualifying which also comprises Greece’s Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou. The 25-year-old has consistently hit the 8.20-8.38 range and has finished among the top-3 in three Diamond League meetings. Sreeshankar will also be familiar with Taipei’s Yu-Tang Lin, the winner at the Asian Athletics Championship with a jump of 8.40m.
There is also a trio of Jamaicans who are potential medallists. Carey McLeod, with a season best of 8.40m, Wayne Pinnock (8.37m) and Tajay Gayle (8.27m) are all fluid jumpers and can turn the tables in a flash.
Four years ago in Doha, Gayle jumped a massive 8.69m to win gold but failed to make the 12-man final last year. Simon Ehammer of Switzerland, last year’s bronze medallist, jumped a season best of 8.32m at the Oslo Diamond League where he finished first.
A youngster to watch out for is European U20 champion Mattia Furlani. The 18-year-old Italian took the title with 8.23m and also jumped 8.24m, which he achieved at the FBK Games in Hengelo. In Savona in May, he showed what he is capable of with 8.44m, albeit wind-assisted. Along with the young Indians, Furlani could challenge the established stars.
But like Sreeshankar says, the challenge is to reproduce form at the bigger competitions.
“Our challenge is to replicate the kind of performance we do on the domestic circuit in competitions abroad. That comes with experience, you have to be in and around Europe and travel and compete. This is my first year of competing regularly in the Diamond League circuit, so it will take me some time to be at that kind of elite level.”
Murali Sreeshankar (left), Jeswin Aldrin. (Express photo by Andrew Amsan) 
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