Murali Sreeshankar qualifies for Paris Olympics with massive jump: Watch

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar recorded a massive jump of 8.37m at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 on Saturday to secure his quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Other than racewalkers, he is the first Indian in Athletics to secure his 2024 Paris quota.

The qualification mark for the 2024 Olympics in Long Jump is 8.27m.

At the AAC in Thailan, Murali Sreeshankar finished second in the competition behind Tang Lin Yu of Chinese Taipei who jumped 8.40m to win the gold medal and create a new competition record.

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Coming on the back of an 8.41m jump at the National Inter-State Athletics in Bhubaneshwar last month, Murali Sreeshankar is having a good season with a podium finish at Paris Diamond League earlier in the year. With that 8.41m jump, Sreeshankar had also qualified for the World Athletics Championships which is to be played in Budapest in August.

This year, he has produced the two best jumps of his career - 8.41m (Inter-State Championships, Bhubaneswar), and 8.37m (Asian Athletics, Bangkok) - and finished on the podium six times.

WATCH: Murali Sreeshankar jumps 8.37m

On Saturday, Murali Sreeshankar started with an 8.10m jump and took the gold medal position. Sreeshankar jumped consistently over 8.10m recording 8.12m, 8.11m, and 8.13m before leaping to a massive 8.37m in his final jump.

Apart from winning the silver medal and qualifying for Paris, Sreeshankar also bettered his 8.31 jump from Kallithea, Greece last year to record the longest jump by an Indian abroad.

With qualification for World Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics secured, Murali Sreeshankar will set his eyes on the gold medal at the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.