Murali Sreeshankar eyes 8.30m-plus jumps for CWG, Asian Games

NEW DELHI: India’s star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, who has met the qualifying standards for both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, says he is in the “best shape of my life physically” as the 27-year-old from Palakkad in Kerala prepares for a packed season, which will feature two multi-sport events and multiple Diamond League appearances.

He has crossed the 8m mark in all four competitions this season. “I can say that I’m probably in the best shape of my life. Just working on technical bits. If everything clicks, I’ll jump well,” he said on the sidelines of the Indian athletics awards ceremony here recently.Training under his father S. Murali and strength and conditioning expert Wayne Lombard, Sreeshankar will head to Spala in Poland before the Commonwealth Games and could compete in the Monaco, Lausanne and Zurich Diamond League meets.

“CWG and Asiad are always about the medal. Distance doesn’t matter. For both the competitions, 8.30-plus should be a medal-winning distance. Also, an 8.50m jump is very achievable for me if I keep following the same fitness, discipline and training drill.

I know it’s there.”

Sreeshankar’s resurgence comes a little over two years after a ruptured patellar tendon in April 2024 threatened to end his career and forced him to miss the Paris Olympics despite having secured qualification.

“I was told very frankly that I won’t be able to jump again. Literally, I was told that my career was over,” Sreeshankar said, recalling consultations with several doctors in India. “The path ahead was very unclear.

There was very little literature on this injury and no standard recovery protocol.”With his athletics dreams seemingly shattered, Sreeshankar travelled to Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha, the FIFA-accredited sports medicine centre where football star Neymar Jr.

also underwent treatment. Surgeons reconstructed his knee using a hamstring graft and three screws. “It was a very serious surgery. Even now, my injured knee is bigger because of the three screws. Initially, it felt like I was jumping with a new knee,” he said.

What followed was a gruelling rehabilitation process involving 12-15 hours of gym work every week. “It was all about patience. We had to build the rehabilitation protocol based on how my body responded every day,” he said.Sreeshankar returned to competition in July 2025 and immediately won gold at the Indian Open in Pune with an 8.05m jump. “That was my second life, my second athletics life,” he said.