Prateek Tanmay
Three jumpers over 8m. The top two beyond 8.30m. On Sunday at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the men’s long jump final at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships produced a result that belongs on the global stage — because it already is.
Sreeshankar Murali won with 8.38m — the second-best jump of his career, behind only his national record of 8.41m set on the same track. Shahnavaz Khan of Uttar Pradesh finished second with 8.30m, a personal best. David P of Tamil Nadu took third with 8.06m. The 8.38m makes him the seventh-best jumper in the world this season and the best in Asia.
Both Sreeshankar and Shahnavaz secured Asian Games qualification with their performances, with the AFI set to announce the Games-bound contingent on Monday. Sreeshankar and Ancy Sojan, who shattered the women’s long jump national record earlier in the meet, were named the best male and female athletes of the championships.
“This is probably the best year for the Indian long jumpers overall,” Sreeshankar said. “The competition has increased and these youngsters are pushing each other and me also.”
The moment Sreeshankar took off from the board in the fourth round, he knew. After landing, he broke into the Pushpa celebration before turning to the scoreboard. When 8.38m flashed, the stands erupted.
The moment Sreeshankar took off from the board in the fourth round, he knew. (AFI Photo)
“I knew it was a big jump. The weather conditions are ideal for me. Humidity helps my body function better. That is why I love Kalinga Stadium. My personal best came here. Last year I returned from injury and jumped 8.13m and this year 8.38m,” he said.
The consistency was as striking as the distance. All five of his legal jumps cleared 8m — 8.06m, 8.00m, 8.21m, 8.38m, 8.26m — and three exceeded 8.20m. What separates him from the rest of the field is not one big jump but the inability to produce a small one.
Story continues below this ad
“After my comeback from injury last year, I needed one big jump. I had told my dad today the competition will be at 8.30 due to the weather,” he said.
It nearly did not happen at all. Sreeshankar suffered a career-threatening knee injury in 2024 that ruled him out of the Paris Olympics. “After the injury, I never thought I would jump this far. When I first broke my knee and had the MRI report in my hand, it looked over for me,” he said. The knee is still not fully right. “One knee is big and one is small. There are three anchor screws in my knee, so I need to ice it regularly and take a deep tissue massage. But I have got used to the new training regime now.”
Shahnavaz, who trains alongside Sreeshankar at SAI Trivandrum, is nineteen, from a village in Pratapgarh district in UP, where his father drove a taxi before dying of cancer when Shahnavaz was ten. An uncle took him to athletics. On Sunday he jumped 8.30m.
“Each of these guys are amazing. Shahnavaz, David, Jithin — they have really raised the bar,” Sreeshankar said. “We have five Indians jumping above 8m. That tells you about the depth. We train together and my father and his coach are always discussing ideas — the knowledge transfer helps both of us.”
Story continues below this ad
When asked whether being pushed by the youngsters bothered him, he grinned. “That’s a good way to tell me I’m getting old.”
With five Indians in the Asian long jump top ten heading into the Games, the pit at Kalinga has rarely looked more crowded with genuine talent. The man his father made is still the best of them.
