Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar finished seventh among 12 athletes in the men’s long jump final at the World Athletics Championships 2022 being held in Oregon on Sunday.
His best effort in the finals was a 7.96 m jump which was his first attempt. Other successful attempts of 7.89 m and 7.83 m were also made by the athlete. He led the field after his first attempt but could not hold onto it for long and was outdone by other athletes.
It was the Chinese athlete Jianan Wang who won the gold medal with a superb effort of 8.36m. He recorded this jump in his final attempt. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece took home the silver medal with a jump of 8.32 m. Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer bagged the bronze medal after recording a jump of 8.16 m.
Sreeshankar had earlier became the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for the World Championships final in his discipline after registering an 8 m jump in the qualification round. He also holds the national record in the sport, recording an 8.36 m effort during the Federation Cup in April.
Anju Bobby George is the first ever Indian long jumper to qualify for the long jump finals at the World Championships. She went on to win a bronze medal in the 2003 edition in Paris.
Sreeshankar went on to finish second in qualification round Group B and seventh overall.
Sreeshankar could not touch the automatic qualification mark of 8.15 m but made it to the finals nonetheless as one of the best twelve performers. Only Japan’s Yuki Hashioka (8.18 m) and USA’s Marquis Dendy (8.16 m) could cross the 8.15 mark in the qualification round.
The other two Indians named Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya failed to qualify for the final. They finished in the ninth and 11th group A qualification round and had best jumps of 7.79 m and 7.73 m respectively.
On the other hand, MP Jabir also finished seventh in his men’s 400 m hurdles heat with a time of 50.76 seconds “@WCHoregon22 Athletics Update Murali Sreeshankar finishes seventh in men’s long jump final. He had the best jump of 7.96m that came in very first attempt MP Jabir finished seventh in his men’s 400m Hurdles heats with a time of 50.76 seconds @g_rajaraman #IndianSports,” said SAI Media in a tweet.
World Athletics Championships 2022 will be held in Oregon from July 15 to July 24. (ANI)
