For one last time on Sunday, Sreeshankar Murali took a shot at qualifying for next month’s World Athletics Championship.
Despite spending 18 months in an injury lay-off, gold at the 64th Senior National Athletics Championship was never in doubt for the long jumper from Kerala. Truth be told, there was no competition as such, as his 8.06m jump in the third attempt was the only instance of anyone touching 8m. S Lokesh, who took silver with a jump of 7.71m was still 0.09m short of the least that Sreeshankar leapt on a humid evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
But the 26-year-old Sreeshankar didn’t come to Chennai searching for gold, but a spot at the Tokyo Worlds.
As he lined up for his final jump, Sreeshankar took more time than usual to start his run-up. With his father Murali anxiously watching from the stands, he completed his jump, turned around, saw the mark and fell flat, looking at the skies. A spot in the Worlds wasn’t in his hands now.
“I tried my best. But it’s okay. I wanted this season to be a kick-starter for the next, which has the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Next season is more important. I don’t think I’ve done enough (for the World Championship). The season is over for me. Unless a miracle happens, I think I will miss it by one or two spots,” he said.
Having been out for a long time due to injury, Sreeshankar returned to action only in July, when in his first tournament back in Poland, he crossed 8m. From there on, he has featured in four more events, with the goal of making it to the Worlds.
“I was trying to chase something that has to be done in a year. I opened up my season on July 12 and in a month and a half, have been trying to chase the qualification mark,” the Palakkad native said.
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A year back, the story was totally different. Just ahead of the Paris Olympics, Sreeshankar suffered what he calls a rare injury – the patellar tendon connecting the kneecap to the top of the shin bone had ruptured. Despite undergoing surgery, there was no guarantee that he could jump again.
“In our dreams, we think we are heroes. Even though I’ve this crazy superman thought in my head that I can fly… I’d not even started running last August. Whatever I got this season, I’m happy. I will embrace it because last year, this day, I was not even sure I would be jumping again. So I’m happy that this happened. I can actually train like a fully fit athlete without talking about rehabilitation,” he said.
Sreeshankar Murali in the gym at IIS Vijayanagar on his comeback trail. (PHOTO: X via @IIS_Vijayanagar)
Long road back for Sreeshankar
Once the surgery was done, the rehabilitation period of eight months tested Sreeshankar’s resolve. Training at the Inspire Institute of Sports in Bellary, he would have three sessions a day before shifting to Thiruvananthapuram to start the final part of his comeback. Last October, he returned to the tracks, just for some light drills and a bit of jogging.
“The rehabilitation was very difficult. It was an uncommon injury in athletics. It’s very hard. There is no reference material on how the rehab has to go. It’s completely up to the athlete, the physio and the medical team to look at it and have a go. Touchwood, I recovered very well. I expected big jumps this season,” Sreeshankar said.
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His father, who was his coach in his formative years, informs that returning to action was not even in their plans. Wayne Lombard, the renowned strength and conditioning coach who was overseeing his recovery, had advised Sreeshankar to not push himself too hard. But the jumper had recovered sooner than expected.
Sreeshankar Murali in the gym at IIS Vijayanagar on his comeback trail. (PHOTO: X via @IIS_Vijayanagar)
“The good part was, there was no compromise in the rehab. It was long, and a step-by-step process. At no time were we looking to hurry up. He had to build his strength from scratch because post surgery, he had to work differently. We didn’t want to push too much, because the Los Angeles Olympics is the top priority. In April, we started with a 4m jump, then gradually went to 5 and given the timeframe, that he is jumping 8m now is a good sign,” Murali added.
Despite not competing for nearly two years, that nobody has taken up his India spot gives Sreeshankar mixed feelings. “When I started jumping, everyone wanted to jump 8 metres. So it’s really good because there are 8m-plus jumpers. Last two seasons, long jump was pretty dull. But now I am really happy that there are more 8m-plus jumpers on the way. Probably by next year, we will have 5 or 6 to push each other for CWG and Asian Games,” he said.
Having featured in five tournaments back-to-back in a short time, Sreeshankar is waiting to know his fate for the World Championships. He believes the time has come for him to take a break before going full throttle next season.
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“If the season ends, I need to take a break, because it’s been a rough road. I have been working continuously like a machine, and competing continuously. This is my fifth competition in probably 40 days. My body is not used to such heavy volumes of competition. But we were just giving it a try to see if I am getting some good 8m- plus jumps,” Sreeshankar added.
