From sofa breaker to record breaker, Indian Murali Sreeshankar eyes long jump medal at Paris Olympics

BANGKOK – Years before Murali Sreeshankar was breaking long jump records, he was breaking sofa legs at home in Palakkad, Kerala.

Inspired by the athletes on his television, the Indian used his living room as a training ground, asking his father S. Murali, a former triple jumper and silver medallist at the South Asian Games, to look at his technique.

The pieces of broken furniture earned him chidings from his parents, but those early days also laid the foundation for his athletic career that includes a silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“It was kind of fun back in those days when we saw athletes competing and jumping on TV, big athletes like Christian Taylor,” Sreeshankar, who competes in the long jump final on Saturday, told The Straits Times at the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok.

“I remember watching the 2011 world championships with my parents and sister and feeling quite motivated after seeing all those big jumps.”

The 1.8m Sreeshankar is making great strides himself. Besides his achievement in Birmingham last August, a first for his country in the long jump, he also qualified for the finals of both the indoor and outdoor world championships in 2022.

In June, he clinched bronze at the Paris Diamond League with a jump of 8.09m.

He is only the third Indian to finish on the podium at the competition, after Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda.

A few weeks later, he set a new personal best of 8.41m at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar. He said: “That (winning at the Commonwealth Games) meant a lot to me because I’ve been on the circuit for quite a bit of time now and last year was a breakthrough season for me...

“I’ve also had pretty good, consistent results in terms of the jumps. This season is looking far better because I’ve improved my personal best.”

Sreeshankar, 24, is coached by his father and cites two factors for his improvement: A change in his training programme and participating regularly on the international circuit like the Diamond League. In 2023, he competed in the Paris and Lausanne legs and will be at the Zurich stop in August.

He added: “We started doing more quality-based training, more power-based training and focusing more on the approach, so I was getting consistent on the board and was able to execute the jumps quite well.”

Events like the Diamond League have helped him get used to jumping in various climates, as well as observe the best practices of other elite athletes.

He said: “This circuit is very, very competitive... I get to learn a lot from my competitors, how they behave in competition and in different kinds of weather conditions because it’s a new thing for me.”

Sreeshankar cites Chopra, 15 months older and a silver medallist at the 2022 world championships, and his family as his inspiration. After all, he grew up in a sport-loving household. Besides his dad, his mother K.S. Bijimol was an 800m runner and his sister Sreeparvathy is a heptathlete.

They watched and debated not just athletics. The Olympics, basketball or tennis were mealtime conversations too. His extended family have also been supportive, often watching his competitions and even turning up to encourage him when he trains at his personal gym at home.

The ultimate goal is Paris 2024, where Sreeshankar – he failed to qualify for the final at Tokyo 2020 – hopes to win an Olympic medal.

His personal best of 8.41m puts him at No. 2 this season, in between compatriot Jeswin Aldrin (8.42m) and Greece’s reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (8.38m).

“I’m sure that with everything in place, I’ll be able to be there,” said Sreeshankar. “I’m not giving anything in guarantee, but I’m sure I’ll be there in the mix.”

That sofa might need new repairs if he returns from Paris next summer with some silverware.