Murali Sreeshankar wins gold in Greece meet

Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar clinched the gold medal at the 13th International Jumping Meeting Filahtlitikos on Wednesday at the Kallithea Municipal Stadium in Kallithea, Greece. The athlete defended his title with the best jump of 8.18m. In 2022, Sreeshankar won the title with an 8.31m jump.

Compatriot Jeswin Aldrin turned his fifth-placed finish in 2022 into a silver medal in the 2023 edition as he jumped his best jump of 7.85m.

Sreeshankar displayed consistency as he started off with a 7.94m attempt, followed by five 8m+ distances (8.17m, 8.11m, 8.04m, 8.01m, 8.18m), recording his gold-medal winning jump on his sixth and final attempt of the meet.

Although ways off his fellow countryman in terms of distance covered, Aldrin too remained consistent with his jumps, always circling around 7.80m mark. His attempts were 7.81m, 7.85m, 7.74m, 7.74m, and 7.78m. He got his silver-medal winning jump on his second attempt as he faulted on his sixth and final one.

In the triple jump event, Indians Praveen Chitravel and Unnikrishnan Karthik did not start (DNS), despite having their names on the start list.