There is a good pool of talented athletes in India today, from Hima Das to Neeraj Chopra all working hard to get an Olympic medal for the country.
One such special talent who has caught the eye of many former athletes is men’s national record holder long jumper M Sreeshankar. Despite not having any major international medal to his credit the youngster is considered one of India’s brightest hopes in athletics.
He has started 2019 with a positive note with his father quoting ‘Sreeshankar has done jumps reaching above 8.20m in training sessions and if his fitness stays as planned he should jump up to 8.50m in major competitions.
Shreeshankar is the son of former SAF Games triple jump silver medalist Murali. Murali is working hard to make his son the world’s best junior long jumper. Shankar had a very challenging 2018 as he underwent a appendix surgery missing the commonwealth games and the under-20 worlds meet in Tampere while in the post recovery stage ending on a disappointing note.
However he is getting a lot of support from people like Antony Yaich, the head coach of JSW funded Bellary based Inspire institute of sport who feels Sreeshankar has the potential to do some very big jumps but has to make some crucial changes in his approach. There are a many young jumpers capable of jumping close to 8.60m but what makes the difference in crucial events is fitness and that can only be achieved by having a good physio and scientific team behind him.
