Jeswin Aldrin returns to form with 8.22m jump

Jeswin Aldrin won the Long Jump event at Citius Athletics, a World Continental Tour Bronze meet, in Switzerland with a new meet record of 8.22m on Friday.

The 8.22m jump is the first time he has crossed the 8m mark since May. He had set the Long Jump national record with a massive 8.42m jump in Bellary, his home training base, to start off the 2023 season. But since then, he has fallen by the wayside even as Sreeshankar has gone from strength to strength.

On Friday, competing in his first event since the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in June, Jeswin, the 21-year-old from Tamil Nadu, registered three legal jumps over 8m to cast aside all doubts.

Jeswin registered the 8.22m jump in his first attempt. He then jumped 8.17m and 8.14m on his second and fourth jumps. He committed a foul on his second attempt and forfeited his final two jumps.

Alejandro Parada of Cuba finished second with a best effort of 8.08m, while Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer, a bronze medal winner at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, finished third with a jump of 8.03m.

Jeswin's 8.42m jump in Bellary in March this year still remains the longest distance jumped by anyone this year.

But with crucial events - World Championships and Asian Games - coming up, his return to form bodes well. He had pulled out of the Lausanne Diamond League and the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok in July owing to injury.

The 8.22m mark makes Jeswin the fourth best long jumper in Asia for 2023 and the 16th best in the world.