Birmingham| Team India's athlete Murali Sreeshankar on Thursday achieved a historic feat as he clinched the silver medal for India in the long jump competition in the ongoing Commonwealth Games. His counterpart Muhammed Anees Yahiya despite giving his best ended in the fifth spot. Murali Sreeshankar has now become the first Indian athlete to win the silverware in the Commonwealth Games. Sreeshankar who was touted as the favorite to win the gold medal registered a jump of 8.08m and clinched the silver in his fifth attempt.
Murali Sreeshankar came second to Bahamas's Laquan Nairn who won the gold medal. The gold medal winner had also registered his best jump of 8.08m but he raced past Sreeshankar with his second best which was 7.98m as compared to the Indian athlete's 7.84m. As the rules have it, if two jumpers are tied on the same distance, the second best will be considered as one of the major parameters to determine the winner. Following Bahamas's Laquan Nairn and India's Murali Sreeshankar, it was South African Jovan van Vuuren who won the bronze medal as he covered 8.06m.
Sreeshankar's silver medal victory is historic in more than one way. He is now ranked as the best among Indian male athletes after Suresh Babu who won the bronze in the 1978 edition of CWG. Apart from the male athletes who were competing, the female athletes fared decently too. Prajusha Maliakkal had clinched the silver in the 2010 edition in Delhi and the legendary Anju Bobby George had won a silver in the 2002 edition of the Commonwealth Games.
Sreeshankar celebrates his CWG victory
Applauding Sreeshankar for his achievement, India's president Droupadi Murmu said that his path-breaking achievement will set a positive example for countless Indians, especially the youth, and the victory is a testament to the fact that hard work doesn't go in vain. Not only the president but India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated the athlete.
"Sreeshankar's Silver medal at the CWG is a special one. It is after decades that India has won a medal in Men's long jump at the CWG. His performance augurs well for the future of Indian athletics. Congratulations to him. May he keep excelling in the times to come", tweeted Prime Minister Modi
