Malayali long jumper Sreeshankar determined to take home Asian Games gold

Malayali long jumper Murali Sreeshankar is determined to convert the silver medal into gold at the Asian Games this time, a feat he narrowly missed at the previous edition.

"I am trying to turn the last silver into gold this time. I hope I can do it. More than how far I jump, winning gold for the country is what matters," he told Malayala Manorama.

The 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, will start on September 19 and run till October 4. The athletics events will begin on September 23.

Sreeshankar, however, began his preparations well before the meet. The Palakkad native reached Japan well ahead of the Games and is currently training at the Tsukuba University campus along with his father and coach, S Murali.
"Japan is three and a half hours ahead of our time. My body is only now getting used to the time difference. I came early to adjust to the weather in Japan as well," he said.

Ahead of the Asian Games, Sreeshankar had clinched a silver medal at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Scotland. He secured the medal with a jump of 8.09 metres.

His best performance this season is the 8.38-metre jump he recorded at the Inter-State Senior Athletics meet in June. His personal best came in 2023, when he recorded a distance of 8.41 metres.