Sreeshankar looks to put disappointing Diamond League behind him in run-up to World Championships

In the lead-up to the World Championships, Sreeshankar says he’s relieved that his struggles were because of a lack of rhythm rather than an underlying fault in his technique or fitness.

India's Sreeshankar competes in the Men's Long Jump event during the IAAF Diamond League "Athletissima" athletics meeting at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne, on June 30, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) | Photo Credit: FABRICE COFFRINI

On Saturday, Murali Sreeshankar went into the Diamond League athletics meet in Lausanne rather optimistic about his prospects. The former Indian long jump record holder had crossed the 8-metre mark in his last four competitions of the year and was just coming off a mammoth 8.41m jump at the Inter-State Championships a couple of weeks back.

He came out of the competition a bit disappointed but also says a bit wiser for the experience and with reinforced respect for Neeraj Chopra, who was also competing in the Swiss city. In cold and rainy conditions in Switzerland, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist struggled to find any rhythm. He struggled to find the take-off board and eventually only managed a best of 7.88m --his worst performance of the year -- and eventually finished fifth.

After the competition finished, he says he got a friendly pat on the back from Chopra. Although he was returning from a break following a muscle strain, the Olympic javelin throw champion Chopra had shrugged off the similar testy conditions and an elite field to win his event.

READ: Neeraj Chopra underlines fitness as priority ahead of World Championships, brushes off 90m pressure

“He told me that ups and downs always happen. He told me to keep my head up and just focus on the next event. He said the experience will help me in the world championships. Neeraj  bhaiyya also said conditions were very cold, and that because of the cold, his body was very slow in the first two throws. But he belongs to the elite level, he can produce good throws when it matters in all conditions. He has that experience and quality,” says Sreeshankar.

While Neeraj might have the experience to deal with all sorts of situations, Sreeshankar admits he was thrown off a bit by the conditions. “They were saying it was 16 degrees, but it felt about 14 degrees because it was raining as well. I was speaking to (Olympic champion Miltiadis) Tentoglu and he also said conditions were cold and he was not getting the rhythm well. He was warming up with two jackets. One woollen and another windcheater. I told him I was just coming from Bhubaneswar where it was 42 degrees. He was like ‘That is crazy bro!’” says Sreeshankar.

Indeed more than the cold, it was the contrasting conditions that Sreeshankar says threw him off. “I was coming from the Inter-State Championships where conditions were 42 degrees and humid. Here it was cold and windy. In between there were ten days of travel from India to Europe and then training here. I didn’t recover as well as I should have. My target was to finish in the top three, which would help me qualify for the Diamond League final, but that didn’t happen. I was expecting at least an 8.10m jump, but my technique was off and I was taking behind the board with every jump,” he says.

On his first jump itself, Sreeshankar felt things were not going well. He had jumped well short of the wooden take-off board. “There was a bit of a headwind and I realised I wasn’t running as fast as I do. Because of that, I moved my approach forward by about 1m. I’ve never had to do that before. Normally if I feel I’m not running as fast, I might move my approach forward by about 20 centimetres but never 1 metre. But despite that, I wasn’t getting to the board. My dad (and also coach S Murali) was saying you aren’t getting to the board, just try to hit the board but I just wasn’t able to,” he says.

Jumping well, says Sreeshankar, is a matter of finding the right rhythm. Get into the groove and the big jumps come easily. In Lausanne, there was none of that. “When the rhythm is right, I could sense the take-off board coming to me rather than me chasing the take-off board. We don’t have to give force or strain to find it. We feel it is coming to us and right below our feet. I had that feeling in the qualification at the interstate (where he jumped a personal best of 8.41m). Whatever my speed is, I was able to find the board. Just need to run and find the take-off. If you can just find the board without searching for it, you will produce a good jump even on a bad day. In Lausanne, I was just struggling to do that. I was having to chop down my steps to find the board. And despite that, I was well behind the board. Because of that, everything was off -- the height of the take-off and the momentum were both missing,” he says.

While Neeraj might have had the experience to deal with all sorts of situations, Sreeshankar admits he was thrown off a bit by the frosty conditions in Lausanne. | Photo Credit: Instagram: JSW Sports

It wasn’t just Sreeshankar who was facing this issue. “Everyone in Lausanne was struggling. I spoke to (Jamaican athlete) Laquarn Nairn (who won the competition with a jump of 8.11). He had competed in Jamaica a couple of weeks before. There was a lot of headwind there and he only did 7.60m because of that. He couldn’t adjust to it there but that experience helped him understand what he had to do in Lausanne. He got that one good jump and won the competition (Indeed Nairn won the Diamond League with a jump of 8.11m but his next best jump was 7.80m, which was less than what Sreeshankar did),” he says.

Utilising experience

That experience is what Sreeshankar will look to imbibe even as he prepares for the World Championships in seven weeks. “Experience in these conditions is very important. We can’t expect things to be pleasant at the world championships. If it rains or there are headwinds, I need to know how I’m going to be able to adjust the approach. All this experience comes with competing at the elite level in different conditions. This experience is vital for me,” he says.

Indeed, Sreeshankar says he’s relieved that his struggles were because of a lack of rhythm rather than an underlying fault in his technique or fitness. “Initially, I was dejected because I didn’t get the rhythm well. But I understood that if I was able to find my rhythm and I was jumping 7.88m after that, then I would have to work a lot on my fitness. But here my rhythm was very bad. I had to chop down my steps and I lost considerable speed to get to the takeoff. And despite that, I jumped 7.88m. So I know the big jump is there. I need to figure out where I went wrong and get it right for the next competition,” he says.

That next competition he says will be the Asian Championships which will serve as a testbed before the World Championships. “Right now, my focus is just on the World Championships. I will be taking part in the Asian Championships. And then heading straight to the worlds. The Asian Championships are two weeks from now. After that, I have a solid five weeks of preparation for the Worlds. The Asian Championships are like a primer or tuning up. It’s a high-level competition and will be a great preparation for me. The only real issue will be the travel aspect, but we are figuring out our strategy so that stress in travel won’t be an issue,” he says.

Sreeshankar says he’s already put his disappointing result behind him. “The biggest positive is that I was competing in an elite field. We didn’t have an athlete from China or the USA but apart from that, this was nothing less than a world championship final. That was the biggest takeaway for me. My rhythm wasn’t right. If I got the rhythm it would have been great competition but it’s good that I had this experience now rather than in the Worlds. All these competitions are tuning up and priming to the main one. They’ve given me ideas on how to adjust to these conditions should I face them at the Worlds,” he says.

That’s the feedback he got from Neeraj as well. “He told me this experience is required as well and there wasn’t any reason to get dejected. If I’m always making great jumps, I won’t ever make my brain work in understanding where I was lacking. After this competition, I have to do that. But it’s better I’m doing it now than later,” he says.