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Journalism of Courage
Sreeshankar Murali produced arguably the best long jump performance by an Indian ever with five 8m plus leaps, including a massive 8.37m in his final attempt, at the Asian Championships in Bangkok. Sreeshankar missed out on the gold as Chinese Taipei’s Yu Tang Lin finished three centimetres ahead of him for the spot. Although the Kerala athlete missed out on the gold narrowly, the consistency he showed at the event should please him along with the fact that it also earned him a berth for the Paris Olympics.
“In the initial jumps, I was taking off far behind the board, mostly just touching it. I knew that today would be a good day for jumping because the weather was similar to Bhubaneswar and my body reacts very well to hot and humid conditions, and we did that pretty well,” he said.
Sreeshankar, who recorded a series of 8.10m, foul, 8.12m, 8.11m, 8.13m and 8.37m jumps on Sunday, feels he could have crossed the 8.40m had he gotten a big jump in the first three attempts. He also rued the fact that he either took off just behind the board or too close to it, taking away precious distance for his jumps.
“We strategized really well for the final, but if I had got this distance in the first three jumps, things could have been different. I thought the winning distance would be 8.20–25 metres. I knew that the Chinese Taipei jumper was there, and there was another guy whose season best was 8.22. Our first target was to get the Olympic qualification mark of 8.27 because I felt very good at training in Switzerland last week,” he said.
Sreeshankar has spoken about his runway approach earlier as well but now with the Paris Olympics participation confirmed, he can iron out the niggles before the megaevent.
“Considering the fact that I have qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024, I am very relieved, and I will open up my 2024 season very late. I will probably start only in May/June. Hence, I will have a good amount of time to prepare in the off-season. The Asian Games will end in the first week of October and after rest and recovery, I will only be able to start my training by the first or second week of November. I need solid time for the Olympics preparations,” Sreeshakar said while giving a blueprint for his road to Paris.
Thriving in heat
When Sreeshankar landed in Bangkok after competing in Lausanne, Switzerland at the Diamond League, the first thing on his mind was to hydrate well to face the hot and humid conditions. Sreeshankar has grown up in Palakkad district, known for similar weather, so acclimatising to Bangkok wasn’t difficult for him.
The Commonwealth Games silver medallist’s body seems to function well in such conditions. At the interstate meet in Bhubaneswar, which was a selection trial for the Asian Games, Sreeshankar took everyone by surprise landing an 8.41m jump in the qualifying rounds itself. It was a new personal best for him after he had missed out on the current national record held by Jeswin Aldrin by just a centimetre.
“When I landed last week in Bangkok, I bought big bottles of water to constantly keep my hydration in place. I coordinated with my nutritionist (Marcos Herguedas Bonilla) at the Inspire Institute of Sport to make sure I am taking in enough fluids and staying hydrated.,” said Sreeshankar.
Marcos, who has earlier worked with the Real Madrid women’s side, has been guiding JSW’s IIS athletes for almost six months now. Sreeshankar is all praise for the Spaniard who constantly monitors his diet and liquid intake.
“He is a gem. Wherever I travel outside the country I send him a picture of the food menu and he tells me what I can eat and in what quantity. He also monitors how much liquid I consume. All these minute things matter a lot and affect the performance directly” explained Sreeshankar.
