Murali Sreeshankar finishes third in men's long jump at Paris Diamond League 2023

The athlete will next be seen in action at the Inter States Athletics Meet.

India's Murali Sreeshankar finished third in men's long jump at the Paris Diamond League 2023 held on 9th June (Saturday). The Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medallist recorded 8.09m and finished behind reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentouglou (8.13m) and Simon Ehammer (8.11m). With this finish, Sreeshankar has become the third Indian to finish inside the top 3 at any Diamond League event with the first two being Vikas Gowda (discus throw) and Neeraj Chopra (Javelin).

Murali Sreesankar's series - 7.79m, 7.94m, 8.09m, X, 7.99m, X

The Keralite started the series at 7.79m and gradually increased the limits. In the third, he recorded 8.09m which was his best among the six attempts. After the end of the first five series, the top three are allowed to take the sixth attempt and the WR 8 was just 0.02m behind Switzerland's Simon Ehammer and 0.04m behind Tentouglou. Sreeshankar, unfortunately, couldn't produce a legal jump but concluded his European stint on a high.

Sreeshankar started his foreign trip on a positive note, winning the Chula Vista event in the USA with a best jump of 8.29m (+3.1m/s above permissible limit). He followed it up with another title at the International Jumping Meeting in Greece recording 8.18m. With this, the former National Record holder takes home six qualifying points and is currently sitting on the 20th spot for the World Championships.

After back-to-back titles, the 24-year-old concluded his foreign run with a third-place finish at the Paris Diamond League 2023. This performance should help him perform consistently at the Inter States meet (qualifying meet for the Asian Games).

Meanwhile, several world records were broken simultaneously at the Paris Diamond League 2023. Ethiopia's Lamescha Girma broke two decade-long world record in men's 3000m steeplechase by recording 7:52.11. Miura Ryuji from Japan claimed the second spot with a national record time of 8:09.91. Avinash Sable will have stiff competition from Miura in the upcoming Asian Championships set to be held next month.

On the other hand, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon creates a new world record in women's 5000m at 14:05.20. She set up a new world record a week earlier in women's 1500m and is going through a dream run.