Picture Credit: Twitter
In order to qualify for the World Championships and Asian Games, star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar made an astounding 8.41m leap on his very first attempt at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships. Notably, the Inter-State Athletics Championships serves as a qualifying event for the Asian and as well as the global event, scheduled to take place later this year.
8.25m mark has been assigned as the cutoff for the World Championships, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19 to August 27, while the Asian Games qualifying mark for the men's long jump is 7.95 metre.
Sreeshankar came within one centimetre of Jeswin Aldrin's earlier-set 8.42m national record with his jump, making the Kerala-born athlete’s best ever mark. The 24-year-old also broke the 8.4m barrier in the long jump, becoming just the second Indian to do so.
Aldrin finished in second with a best leap of 7.83m, and Muhammed Anees Yahiya came in third with 7.71m as 12 long jumpers advanced to the finals which will take place on Monday.
