Athletics
2022 World Athletics Championships: Murali Sreeshankar becomes first Indian man to qualify for Long Jump Final
Murali Sreeshakar became the first Indian to qualify for the World Championships final in long jump.
Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar (Source: Getty Images)
Long Jumper Murali Sreeshankar, on Saturday,became the first Indian man to qualify for the final of World Athletics Championships in the sport. The 23-year-old registered a best of 8m in the qualification to make it through to the final.
Brushing off his ghosts of global event performances, Sreeshankar started with a leap of 7.86m in his first attempt. The Indian national record holder improved it to 8m in his second before fouling his final attempt in Oregon.
Sreeshankar's leap of 8m placed him 7th overall in the qualification round and second best in his group. The automatic qualification for long jump was set at 8.15m - a mark which only two athletes could achieve on Saturday.
Sreeshankar's feat also made him the first Indian man to qualify for the final of World Championships in long jump. The previous best show for India was registered by Sreeshankar himself when he finished 22nd at Doha in 2019.
The other Indians in contention - Jeswin Alrdin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya had forgettable outings with a best of 7.79m and 7.73m respectively to crash out of the World Championships.
Jeswin was ranked 20th overall, while Yahiya finished 23rd.
