Sreeshankar wins gold in USA meet
New Delhi, May 1
Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar claimed the gold medal with a leap of 8.29 metres at the MVA High Performance athletics meet 1 held in Chula Vista, USA.
Competing in only his second event of the season, the 24-year-old, who had won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, produced a creditable effort that was just short of his personal best of 8.36m.
China’s Ma Weidong secured the silver medal with a 7.99m leap, while his compatriot Huafeng Huang claimed the bronze with an effort of 7.61m.
The qualifying standard for the World Championships, to be held in Budapest in August, is 8.25m but Sreeshankar’s effort was not considered as tailwinds were over permissible limits.
Sreeshankar had a 7.94m jump at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru earlier this month.
Sreeshankar national record of 8.36m was surpassed by Jeswin Aldrin with an effort of 8.42m in March.
