Credit: Twitter
India’s top long jumper Jeswin Aldrin qualified for his first long jump finals in the World Athletics Championships 2023 on August 23, Thursday. While the national record holder made it to the next round, his fellow Indian competitor Murali Sreeshankar got knocked out of the tournament after the qualifying round in the ongoing event in Budapest, Hungary.
Aldrin entered the tournament as a season leader, made it to the final round by recording 8.0m in his first attempt, and fouled his next two attempts. Notably, the 21-year-old long jumper created a national record in March 2023, when he recorded 8.42 m. In his maiden long jump finale, Aldrin will compete for a medal along with 11 other athletes. Those who cleared the 8.15 m mark or got themselves in the top 12 made it to the final round at the World Athletics Championships 2023.
Aldrin finished sixth in the Group B qualification round and was the 12th-best performer overall. With advancing to the summit round, Aldrin became the second Indian male long jumper to qualify for the finals after Sreeshankar who had finished seventh in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
This is his second appearance in the World Athletics Championships. The Tamil Nadu-born athlete had crashed out at the qualification round in the 2022 edition which was held in the USA.
