National Record holder Jeswin Aldrin pulls out of Lausanne Diamond League 2023

The 21-year-old breached the qualifying mark for the Asian Games

India's national record holder in Long Jump Jeswin Aldrin has pulled out of Lausanne leg of the Diamond League 2023 after initially featuring in the competition alongside compatriots Murali Sreeshankar and reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. The athlete from Tamil Nadu took part in the recently concluded Inter State Athletics Championships and clinched the second spot with a best jump of 7.98m and in the process also qualified for the Asian Games.

Jeswin Aldrin's name was included in the Indian team squad for Asian Athletics Championships 2023 which was announced by Athletic Federation India (AFI) yesterday (June 22nd). Manisha Malhotra, JSW Sports' head of Excellence informed Sportstar on World Leader's non participation at the Lausanne Diamond League.

Manisha iterated, "He was down with Covid-19 and it played havoc with his jumping. He did a 7.85m in Athens on May 24 and then a 7.66m in another meet at Chania, in Greece, four days later. In his last week in Cuba he had recovered and competed there so we thought he was fine but then the travel to Greece completely left him weak and since then it has been a catch-up situation."

The athlete is looking to get back to his best and seems to be not rushing after competitions keeping in mind the World Championships which is set to be August. Jeswin rose to the limelight when he jumped 8.42m at the Open Jumps meet in Bellary which is the best jump of the season (till date). Since then, Jeswin has looked off colour but has managed to get breach qualification mark for the Asian Games.