M Sreeshankar wins gold in Greece

India's Murali Sreeshankar won his second gold medal in Greece this season with a jump of 7.95m at Venizeleia-Chania 2022 athletics meet on Sunday.

Published : May 30, 2022 14:02 IST , KOCHI

M. Sreeshankar with long jump legend Robert Emmiyan at Kallithea in Athens after winning the gold at the World Athletics Continental Tour event on Wednesday.
M. Sreeshankar with long jump legend Robert Emmiyan at Kallithea in Athens after winning the gold at the World Athletics Continental Tour event on Wednesday.
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M. Sreeshankar with long jump legend Robert Emmiyan at Kallithea in Athens after winning the gold at the World Athletics Continental Tour event on Wednesday.

The sandpit at the Chania international meet in Greece proved to be a difficult one. But long jumper M. Sreeshankar won the gold comfortably with a wind-assisted 7.95m (+2.4) on Sunday.

The 23-year-old also had a legal best of 7.81 in the meet, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, where Frenchman Jules Pommery took the silver with 7.73.

It was Sreeshankar’s second gold in Greece in five days after his victory (with 8.31m) in Kallithea, Athens, last week.

“It was good...didn’t put too much effort into this. Only target was to win. Lot of positives from this meet,” Sreeshankar told Sportstar from Athens on Monday evening.

“But the pit was really bad. They put a lot of sand, felt like jumping onto a hill. Even Emmiyan (long jump great Robert Emmiyan, now a coach in France) made an appeal to the organisers about it. But that didn’t help much.

“Emmiyan said it was impossible to jump far as the pit was like a mountain.”

A day before Chania, Sreeshankar got news that his entry – which was on wait list earlier - for the Ostrava Golden Spike (a World Athletics Continental Tour gold event, May 31) was confirmed. But it was a bit late.

“So we stuck with Chania,” he said.

Sreeshanth and S. Murali, his dad, also his coach, will return to India on Tuesday.

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