Thiruvananthapuram: In 1974, Kerala’s T C Yohannan dug out for India a gold medal from the long-jump pit at the 1974 Asian Games at Tehran. The feat, marking a distance of 8.07 metres, clocked a national record that remained unchallenged for a good 30 years till Amritpal Singh of Punjab eclipsed it in 2004.
Next week, when India readies to again leap into the next edition of Asiad, the focus is back on two Keralites - long jumper M Sreeshankar and triple jumper A V Rakesh Babu. Both are training under Romanian veteran Bedros Bedrosian, whose personal best in triple jump has been 17.27 metres set at his East European country’s capital of Bucharest in 1984.
Palakkad-born Sreeshankar, just 18 years old, is the ‘baby’ at the coaching camp that is gaining pace in its practice session ahead of the 18th Asiad beginning in Indonesian cities Jakarta and Palembang on August 18. If Sreeshankar has been hailed a prodigy, Kozhikode’s Rakesh has had his profile rise with the passage of years.
Bedros, 63, is all praise for the youngsters. “Hard workers, undoubtedly. They are capable of conjuring up some magic; just wait and see,” he gushes. “I am really hopeful about their performance.”
Sreeshankar, too, is optimistic. He has to be, given that it’s one way the jumper can overcome the disappointment of the 2018 IAAF World Under-20 Championships at Tampere, Finland, where ill-luck robbed him of a medal. Sanku, as he is fondly called by his parents and former athletes S Murali and K S Bijimol, jumped more than 8 metres last month, but his chest number had brushed the ground. The officials disqualified that jump by Sreeshankar, who was also suffering from a jet lag. The athlete had otherwise been on a comeback, having undergone a surgery for appendicitis.
Sreeshankar agrees that the field is going to be tougher in Jakarta. The meet “teems with jumpers from China and the host nation who can give a big challenge,” he added.
Sreeshankar had won the gold with a jump of 7.99m at the Federation Cup National Championships at Patiala. “I know I have to cross the 8-metre mark to find myself as a potential medal-winner at the Asiad,” he said.
As for Rakesh, the triple jumper is eager to wipe out the embarrassment from the Commonwealth Games Gold Coast this April. He was sent back to India on finding to have the infringed the authorities’ no-needle policy along with race walker K T Irfan. That scuttled his chance to vie in the finals despite qualifying.
Today, a more mellowed Rakesh continues to practise at the LNCP grounds in the Kerala capital. He will, along with compatriot Arpinder Singh, participate in the triple jump event in Jakarta.
