What was often called a 'fluke jump' of 8.20 metre (set as a national record at the 2018 Open Nationals) by long jump prodigy M Sreeshankar, now lay in ruins by the very young man from Kerala himself, who took three years to finally breach that elusive mark while confirming his Tokyo Olympics ticket in due process.
His record-breaking jump of 8.26m (well ahead of the Tokyo qualifying standard of 8.22m) came at the AFI's biggest yearly event in Federation Cup, which often witnesses such breakthrough performances leading into the season, in Patiala on Tuesday. But what's more outstanding than his solo big leap was the way he went about his jumps on Tuesday.
A flashback into the past reveals that the 21-year-old college student from Palakkad was struggling to match the hype that was created around him after his huge jump in Bhubaneshwar in September 2018. Of course, the young man was ever enthusiastic and confident enough to aim for jumps in the region of 8.50m after having strong pre-season training with his coach and father Murali, a former triple jumper.
However, possibly a change in training routine and technique briefly under another foreign coach leading to the 2019 World Athletics Championships, with nagging injury issues every now and then, saw a steep downfall in his performances with the prodigy not managing a jump above 8m that season. In fact, his biggest learning curve came at the Worlds in Doha, where he couldn't go beyond 7.62m in the three jumps to finish at 22nd place.
Fast forward to 2021, a few days prior to his mercurial effort, Sreeshankar revealed a more mature side of his during a conversation with Indiatvnews.com.
"I don't want to think about big jumps like 8.40-50 at the moment. This pandemic break gave me time to reflect on my performance with my father and we don't want to just aim at one big jump anymore. Instead, my focus at the Federation Cup would be to keep my jumps in the region 8 to 8.20m and be regular at it. Once I consistently achieve that, I will aim bigger," said Sreeshankar before reaching the venue.
His attempts in Patiala on Tuesday read: 8.02m, 8.04m, 8.07m, 8.09m and 8.26m (in that order).
Staying true to his words, the jumper didn't just show that he has grown wiser and smarter with time but has also left many excited about what are the possibilities at the upcoming Olympics.
And being wiser as ever now, Sreeshankar once again refrained from making tall promises.
"I know I am not a medal contender yet. If I have to be a medal contender, I need to get consistent over 8.10 at least. But I am confident to make it to the finals at least," said the World No. 24.
In case you are wondering, how tall is the challenge to win a medal at the Olympics, the current top 3 jumps in the World Athletics Rankings are 8.69m (Jamaica's Tajay Gayle) 8.65m (Cuba's Juan Echevarria) and 8.43m (South Africa's Luvo Manyonga). Gayle's 8.69m also won him gold at the Worlds
Saying that, if Sreeshankar's performance improves further in the season, then anything is possible. However, we must keep in mind that he is just 22 and has the potential to deliver a lot in the coming years than at the upcoming Olympics.
