Murali Sreeshankar shines on Day 1 of World Athletics Championships

Avinash Sable also qualified for the medal race in the 3000m steeplechase event.

The much-awaited 2022 World Athletics Championships got underway on July 15 in Oregon, United States of America. The event was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but it got off to a great start for all the Indian fans.

Murali Sreeshankar, who has been a consistent performer this season, qualified for the men’s long jump final with a magnificent jump of 8m. By doing so, he directly booked his place in the medal event. Sreeshankar has now become the first-ever Indian to qualify for the men’s long jump final at the World Championships. His Indian teammates, Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya, jumped 7.79m and 7.73m, respectively. The boy from Kerala holds the national record of 8.36m, which he did in May this year.

On the other hand, Avinash Sable, who was appearing in the 3000m steeplechase event, also qualified for the final by finishing third in Heat 3. This will be Sable’s second successive appearance at the medal race in the World Athletics Championships. The 27-year-old athlete earned a direct qualification to the main event by clocking 8:18:75, which helped him grab the third spot. Ethiopia’s Hailemariyam Amare finished first (8:18:34) while Even Jager of the United States of America finished second (8:18:44) in Heat 3.

Sable started off well and led the line after the first 1000m but soon he fell behind and at one point, he was at the sixth position with only 400m to go. However, the Indian gave his best and finished third to book an automatic place in the final.

Among other Indian athletes on Day 1 of the biggest athletics event, Priyanka Goswami finished 34th in the women’s 20km racewalk, while Sandeep Kumar also had a disappointing outing as he culminated his race at 40th position in the men’s 20km racewalk.

India fans were hoping for a medal from Moga’s Tajinderpal Singh Toor, but he retired without a single throw in the men's shotput qualification. Unfortunately, he was the only shot-putter across gender to qualify the World Championships. The 27-year-old pulled out due to a groin injury he sustained four days ago after reaching USA. Tajinderpal tried a few throws before the event but decided to skip the event because of the pain.

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