India’s Murali Sreeshankar won the silver medal in the men's long jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with the best jump of 8.08m. He achieved the feat on his fifth attempt as before that, he was out of the medal spot. On the other hand, Bahamas' LaQuan Nairn won the gold medal.
LaQuan Nairn also had the best attempt of 8.08m but his second leap propelled him to the gold which was 7.98m, better than Murali Sreeshankar’s 7.84m. The Palakkad-born started the final with a respectable 7.60m jump which placed him fourth on the leaderboard. In the next attempt, he bettered his record by nearly 14cm.
Further, Murali Sreeshankar wasn't able to improve his record and registered another 7.84m leap in the third set and visually he looked displeased with his jump. Murali’s misfortunes continued in the fourth set as he was given a red flag for foul jump. On his fifth and final attempt, the 23-year-old turned the tables as he breached the 8m mark, with an 8.08m leap and rocketed to the second spot.
Comfortably seated at the first runner-up’s spot, Murali Sreeshankar overstepped by 1.7cm and bagged the silver medal in his debut at Commonwealth Games. Post event, he talked about how he has been waiting for the medal for a long time.
Murali Sreeshankar said, "Very happy to be honest. have been waiting for this for a very long time. I desperately wanted a medal here... I knew that a good jump will fetch me a medal here. I wanted to do my Personal Best here but unfortunately, the conditions were not quite favourable.
“It was windy and cold and the main challenge was to overcome these conditions. After the first round, I got a good rhythm. Happy with the silver medal Even though a bit disappointed that I could not win the gold,” he continued.
He then dedicated this medal to his father while also thanking the Sports Ministry for their support. "I am elated. A bit disappointed that I could not win gold but happy that I won silver for the country. I would like to dedicate this medal to all those who stood by me including my father, our Sports Ministry," he stated.