Murali Sreeshankar, a long jumper, places third in the prestigious Diamond League competition in Paris

At the Paris Diamond League 2023, Indian Murali Sreeshankar placed third in the men’s long jump with an excellent 8.09m effort.

With his third try, Murali recorded his greatest leap of the Friday night. Only the reigning Olympic and Diamond League champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, who won the Paris Diamond League with an 8.13m leap, was ahead of him in second place after his 8.09m performance.

However, Murali’s foul in his fourth try and Simon Ehammer of Switzerland’s 8.11-meter leap dropped the Indian long jumper to third place. Sreeshankar’s sixth sprint down the track resulted in a foul, while his fifth attempt measured 7.99m.

Sreeshankar was participating in the Diamond League for the second time. With a 7.94m effort, he finished sixth in Monaco the previous year. His personal best jump, which he recorded last year, was 8.36 meters.

Notably, Jeswin Aldrin set the national record for men’s long jump in India earlier this year with a leap of 8.42 meters.

Sreeshankar, 24, entered the Diamond League’s Paris leg having previously won three straight gold medals. His season-best leap of 8.18 meters helped him win a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze medal competition at Kallithea, Greece, last month, and he qualified for the 2018 Asian Games in China.

The Paris tournament served as the fourth stop in the Diamond League, an annual circuit of the best track and field events put on by World Athletics. But the inclusion of the men’s long jump on the list of events was a novelty for this year.

The top eight competitors in each event advance to the final, and participants in the Diamond League are given points for their results in each leg. The Diamond League Final for this year will take place on September 16 and 17 in Eugene, USA.