Sreeshankar gets his rhythm back, ready to soar 

Long jumper looks to better his National record at the indoor Worlds 

M. Sreeshankar was closely following the Belgrade indoor athletics meet in the Serbian capital from his home at Palakkad on Monday. And t, nearly 6500kms away, here was plenty to inspire him, including Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis’ world record.

The long jumper, virtually the country’s No. 2 in athletics after Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, was keen to know how the Stark Arena track felt like and more.

Sreeshankar will be jumping at the same venue next week, at the World indoor championships, and the Belgrade indoor meet offers him a chance to mentally fine-tune himself for the big event.

The 8.17m effort that fetched him the gold at the thrilling Jumps Nationals in Thiruvananthapuram earlier this month has brought his confidence back. He is hopeful of a good performance in the Serbian capital.

“My rhythm is good, am feeling much, much better now than I was at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I won’t promise anything but I think I can do it... my main focus will be to better my National record (8.26m),” said Sreeshankar in a chat with The Hindu on Wednesday. “We (he and his dad-cum-coach S. Murali) are just focusing on getting into that rhythm.