Bhubaneswar: Murali Sreeshankar calls Kalinga Stadium his lucky ground. It was here that he recorded his first 8m jump (8.20m in 2018) as well as his personal best (8.41m in 2023). Returning to his happy hunting ground after recovering from a career threatening left knee – the surgery has left a long scar – he needed every bit of fortune to win his fourth straight competition in five weeks.
Egged on by a passionate crowd, Sreeshankar leapt 8.13m in his sixth and last attempt to steal the thunder from young Shahnavaz Khan, who looked set for a win with his first 8m-plus jump, an 8.04m effort.
“I believe this is Bhubaneswar magic. Whenever I come here, I just do good,” the 26-year-old said. Sreeshankar looked in decent rhythm, two fouls sandwiching attempts of 7.92m, 7.95m, 7.93m before the winning effort to carry his form from Almaty, where he won last week.
“This is the third country that I’m moving past over the past 10 days, so I just need to get some rest before I get ready for a big one at the Inter State (in Chennai). I am happy for Shahnavaz too since we train together and push each other,” the 2023 Asian Games silver medallist, who now trains at SAI Thiruvananthapuram, said.
Returning to competition after a gap of more than a year, Sreeshankar has barely had the time to finetune his technique. His days involve spending hours to regain the strength, to gain the confidence needed to trust the repaired knee.
“This season has been all about rehab. From January until now, I’ve been spending three sessions per week in gym, each session lasting four hours. I started jumping only 2-3 months back. In spikes, I’ve altogether jumped probably 8-9 times before starting my season.” Still, Sreeshankar looked on course to meet the Tokyo World Championships entry standard of 8.27m.
“I was confident I’ll do it. I gained more elevation than I wanted in the last jump and lost about 30cm,” he said.
Comeback bids such as these are often as much about the mind too. Career-altering injuries and surgeries can often cast apprehensions in an athlete’s mind, affecting performances at crunch moments. For Sreeshankar, it was hardly the case because he had “beaten death” in past, as he refers to his appendicitis surgery in 2018 that cost him that year’s Commonwealth Games.
“I was only a teenager then and that was a life-threatening situation. When you have come back from something like that, these surgeries are easier to deal with,” he said.
“What also gave me confidence were the doctors in Aspetar Hospital in Doha which is probably the best hospital in the world. My case was complicated and even the best doctors said it wasn’t up to them. It was probably the end of my career. But the doctors in Doha were very confident. They have taken a graft from my hamstring and wrapped my knee, and put three screws there. I know my knee is pretty strong but it needs some care.”
That means a regimented post-event routine involving soft tissue release and rehab exercises. “It’s natural to have some doubts and fear but when I step onto the runway for jumps, my mind goes completely blank.”
On Sunday, running in for his last jump, all he thought was giving his all, “even if I break my leg again.”
“I have come back from much harder situations but there’s a close bunch that keeps my spirits high. I lean on Tejaswin Shankar and Neeraj Chopra who have always been very encouraging.”
After a two-day break, Sreeshankar will head to Chennai for the Inter State where he’ll bid to achieve the entry standard for Tokyo. “If that happens, it’s fine. If not, I’ll still be ok, I am just happy to be back competing.”
