‘My fifth jump looked like 8.40-plus’
The Hindu
National record holder Sreeshankar plans to take it easy in his next event
M. Sreeshankar had his hands on his head after his fifth jump at the International Jumping Meet in Kallithea, Athens, on Wednesday. The long jumper had overstepped the take-off board a bit and shook his head as he looked at the landing pit.
“The last two jumps were superb ones, the fifth looked like 8.40 plus,” Sreeshankar told The Hindu from Greece.
Still, he was happy that he had done very well to take the gold with 8.31m beating Indoor Worlds silver medallist Thobias Montler.
“I was struggling to find the rhythm. The first two jumps and the fourth, I was extending towards the board and couldn’t do them perfectly,” said the National record holder who is coached by his father S. Murali.
And while his third effort brought gold, the last two offered a hint of bigger things to come.
“I didn’t do full approach jumps before coming here because of the rain. We expected 8.20 to 8.30, it’s a good performance,” said the 23-year-old.
“I’ll maintain this consistency because these jumps were pretty easy and the last two were really good.”