Elation and, more often, despair are constant companions of all athletes. Few have lived that reality with as much awareness as India’s premier long jumper M Sreeshankar. While he has become familiar with agony and ecstasy, the World No. 8 may have cracked the code by embracing the joy of effort in his quest to leave a lasting impact on the Indian track and field horizon.
Making it to the World Athletics Championships Long Jump final at Eugene, USA, in 2022 was a key milestone in instilling greater self-belief in him. As was the silver medal in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games that followed inside a month. Two leaps in excess of 8m gave him the confidence that he could compete with the world’s best.
The disappointment of not making it to the final in the World Championships in Budapest in 2023 offered him the chance to introspect. He analysed his warm-up routine during the qualifying round and may have realised that since he was jumping last in a group of 20 athletes, he could have delayed his warm up like Javelin star Neeraj Chopra was to do later.
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An 8.20m jump got him the silver medal in Hangzhou 2022.
Can he make a podium finish in @Paris2024?
Presenting you #Trailblazers 2.0 speaker, @SreeshankarM.@TataSteelLtd pic.twitter.com/b3EfAxMhp5
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) February 16, 2024
And Sreeshankar bounced back with a silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year with an 8.19m effort. Like the silver in Birmingham, the one in Hangzhou left Sreeshankar eager to find ways to rack up his peak performance in key competitions. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be the biggest event of his career as he seeks to overturn memories of Tokyo 2020.
The 24-year-old has been able to hold his own against a crop of jumpers who breach the 8.00m mark with regularity, focusing on doing well on the international circuit. He has drawn from Olympic and World champion Neeraj Chopra’s success and emotional support at critical moments to be able to express himself on the long jump runway and pit.
He has preferred to train in home conditions rather than base himself in Europe in the months before the outdoor season starts. Having spent time in the United States ahead of the 2022 World Championships and in Hungary before the 2023 edition, he has now backed himself to be at the peak physical and emotional shape ahead of what will be the biggest challenge of his career.
Now, as he prepares for the Olympic Games this year as a more aware, more confident athlete, 24-year-old Sreeshankar’s insights into his own journey and reflections on Indian sport will hold much interest at India’s largest sports conclave, Trailblazers 2.0 at the ITC Royal Bengal in Kolkata on March 7 and 8.
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