Athletics
"Confident of winning medals in both CWG and World Championships," says Murali Sreeshankar
Murali Sreeshankar said that he is confident of finishing on the podium at both the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
Murali Sreeshankar with his gold from the 12th International Jumping Meeting in Greece
Having clinched the gold medal in his first international meet of the season with a massive jump of 8.31m at the 12th International Jumping Meeting, ace Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar said that he is confident of finishing on the podium at both the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Athletics Championships later this year.
"The main aim now is the Commonwealth Games and World Championships. And now with this jump I can feel that I will be able to bring medal in both these events," Sreeshankar said after his gold medal in Greece.
The 23-year-old from Kerala has been in amazing form this season. He has crossed the 8m mark consistently in the domestic season and had qualified for the 2022 World Athletics Championships with a National Record effort of 8.36m at the Federation Cup last month.
Despite bagging the gold, Sreeshankar maintains that it took him time to get into the rhythm and attributed it to the lack of full-approach jumping practice sessions back home due to untimely rains.
"The first two jumps, I did not have the rhythm. The third jump it was better, the fourth attempt again the rhythm problem. The last two jumps I felt better. It was all about the rhythm today. I was struggling a bit because I could not do any full-approach jumping sessions before coming to Greece. Rain was really affecting our training back at home. It is very unlikely to have rain in mid-May and that did affect my training sessions," he stated.
The International Jumping Meeting in Greece had a high class field with the likes of World Indoor Championships medallists Miltos Tentoglou, Thobias Montler and Junior World Champion Erwan Konate in action.
Montler took home the silver behind Sreeshankar with a best of 8.27m while Jules Pommery finished third with 8.17m.
"It was a great experience competing with the likes of Montler, Pommery, Erwan - they are all great jumpers. It was great to compete with these guys with such electrifying atmosphere during the competitions, where we were all egging each other to do better," he says.
