Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar secured third place at the Paris Diamond League 2023 on Friday, achieving a best jump of 8.09m, which is well below his personal best of 8.36m.
This marked his inaugural podium finish in the Diamond League. The top two spots were claimed by Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.13m) and Switzerland's Simon Ehammer (8.11m), with a mere 0.04m margin separating the three leading jumpers at the Paris event. Whereas, reigning Olympic bronze medallist Maykel Masso (of Cuba) finished sixth with a best jump of 7.83m.
Sreeshankar's first attempt was a modest 7.79m leap before improving to 7.94m in his second attempt. It was in his third attempt that the silver medalist of the 2022 Commonwealth Games ensured his third-place finish with an 8.09m jump. However, he fouled on his fourth and sixth attempts while hitting below 8 in his fifth leap.
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With this bronze medal, he became the third Indian after Neeraj Chopra discus thrower Vikas Gowda to finish on the podium in the Diamond League. Chopra did not participate in this edition of the Diamond League as he is nursing an injury.
Whereas, reigning Olympic bronze medalist Maykel Masso had a disappointing outing as he finished sixth with a best jump of 7.83m.
Although Sreeshankar finished third in Paris it was not his best numbers this season. In May, he triumphed with a gold medal at the 13th International Jumping Meeting Filahtlitikos in Greece, recording his best jump of 8.18m this season.
Looking ahead, Sreeshankar's next event will be the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneshwar on June 15, where he would like to surpass the World Championship qualification mark which is set at 8.25m by the AFI (Athletics Federation of India). There he will also lock horns with current national record holder, Jeswin Aldrin, who has already qualified for the event with a jump of 8.42m earlier in March.