Murali Sreeshankar, a long jumper, qualifies for the World Athletics Championships

With a tremendous 8.41m leap in the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships held at the Kalinga Stadium in this city on Sunday, Murali Sreeshankar qualified for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the long jump event.

During the heats, Murali Sreeshankar, 24, set a personal record on his first try.He missed Jeswin Aldrin’s national record by 0.01 m, but he comfortably passed the 8.25 m threshold needed to qualify for the global championships.

Murali had previously jumped 8.29 metres in an athletics competition in California, USA, but since his leap was wind-aided, it did not enable him qualify for the world championships.

Murali Sreeshankar took third place at the Paris Diamond League 2023 last week with an amazing 8.09m long jump.

Prior to that, Murali Sreeshankar won a bronze medal World Athletics Continental Tour competition at Kallithea, Greece, with a leap of 8.18 metres, qualifying for the 2018 Asian Games in China. On June 30, Murali is anticipated to accompany Neeraj Chopra at the Lausanne Diamond League.

During the heats, Jeswin Aldrin accomplished a long jump of 7.83 metres. With his 8.26m jump in the National Games last year, which won him the gold medal, he has already earned a spot in the global championships.

In all, 12 of the 20 men who were listed as participants in the long jump event qualified for the Monday long jump final.

Ancy Sojan, the 2022 national champion in the long jump, won the preliminary round with a leap of 6.49 metres. Bronze medalist Nayana James at the Asian Championships finished in second with 6.31m, followed by promising teenager Shaili Singh, who reached 6.27m.

On Monday, the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2023’s long jump finals and other top contests will take place.