Murali Sreeshankar says no to loose outfits after narrowly missing CWG gold as Diamond League debut awaits-Sports News , Firstpost

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar will compete in the Monaco Diamond League on Wednesday night. AP

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar’s silver medal at the Commonwealth Games will be remembered as one of the most controversial on-field events in Birmingham as his fourth attempt, possibly the biggest jump of the night, was red flagged by the slimmest of margins (1mm) by the new and contentious laser method.

The decision eventually cost him the gold medal as being tied on 8.08m with the Bahamas’ Laquan Nairn, the winner was decided by the virtue of the second-best jump, with Nairn’s effort of 7.97m trumping the 23-year-old Indian’s 7.84m jump.

While the decision seemed baffling as on-camera evidence suggested that Sreeshankar’s fouled jump was a legitimate attempt and led to a challenge from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) officials, the Indian long jump prodigy has already made his peace with what went down on the eventful night and is focussed on his World Athletics Diamond League debut in Monaco on Wednesday.

However, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t learned valuable lessons from the calls that changed the colour of his medal.

“My fourth attempt was big,” Sreeshankar told Firstpost from Monaco. “It was red flagged but was measured already. And we asked how big it was, they confirmed it was easily the gold medal jump. But as per new rules, it was a foul attempt and I am willing to accept that. Even my father (Murali, also his coach) had a hunch that they won’t change their decision as they follow rules.”

But that doesn’t mean AFI’s decision to challenge the call was a futile one as it helped Sreeshankar take a pivotal call as per his clothing is concerned. Turns out the ill-fitted vest Sreeshankar was wearing on the night took some valuable centimetres away from him the moment he landed in the pit.

“It’s something we saw during the review of the jumps at the TIC meeting. The measurements of the jumps done are photographic measurements and it captures even the smallest of disturbances in centimeters. And it recorded the bloated part of my vest as the back of my body which means I easily lost some 10-15 centimeters.

Those who followed the CWG track and field events, or other events before, must have noticed that Indian athletes wore mostly vests and shorts during the competitions while their foreign counterparts appeared in skin-tight outfits.

(Left) CWG gold medallist long jump Laquan Nairn wearing skin-tight signlet while Sreeshankar (right) noticed back of his ill-fitted vest cost him a few centimeters in the decider. AP

“The loose outfit issue was apparent in my other attempts as well, I lost valuable distances. I think I need to wear tight outfits the next time,” said Sreeshankar, who was also thankful to Lalit Bhanot (AFI planning committee chief) for being quick with their review request.

Much-awaited Diamond League debut

While it’s not clear if Sreeshankar got his hands on the skin-tight singlets ahead of his much-awaited Diamond League debut already, he will need all the help he can get at Monaco Diamond League. Also known as the Herculis, the tournament attracts the biggest of names in the sport and there will be no dearth of it during the men’s long jump as well with Greece’s Tokyo Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou among the participants. The competition also includes other big names in Olympic bronze medallist Maykel Masso and former world champion Tajay Gayles.

A rejuvenated Sreeshankar, whose season best (SB) is 8.36m and is equal to Tentoglou’s SB as prime medal contenders, will fancy his chances of reaching the podium on debut.

However, at just 23, Sreeshankar learned the hard way that how a good domestic competition does prepare you for a big season but not getting acclimatised to alien conditions quickly may become the difference between failure and success. As was the case at the World Championships last month when fingers were pointed at the young jumper when he failed to go beyond 8m at the biggest of stages.

“People talk a lot of things, even to my face but I have learned to deal with them. They don’t know the factors that come into play as they see it from the outside. But I think I am getting wiser, I am mentally much stronger now to deal with them and focus on things that are in my hands instead,” Sreeshankar concluded.

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