CWG'22: History made! Murali Sreeshankar attains BIG feat with silver medal in men's long jump

Indian athletes continue to win hearts with their glittering performances at the CWG 2022 edition, being held in Birmingham. Murali Sreeshankar, on Thursday (August 04), scripted history after clinching the silver medal in the men's long jump event in Birmingham 2022. The 23-year-old Sreeshankar, thus, has now became the first-ever Indian to claim a silver medal in the men's long jump event at the Games.

The youngster produced a sensational performance in his event with a jump of 8.08 metres in his fifth attempt and secured the second spot, behind Bahamas' Laquan Nairn. It is to be noted that Nairn also had the best jump of 8.08 metres. However, he edged past Sreeshankar by a whisker as his second best attempt was of 7.98 metres, compared to the Indian counterpart's 7.84 metres. Thus, there wasn't much to separate between the two.

For the unversed, the rules state that if two jumpers are tied on the same distance, the one with a better second-best effort will go past the other to claim the first spot. On the other hand, another talented Indian long jumper Mohammed Anees Yahiya had also qualified for the finals. He, however, finished at the fifth position courtesy of a best jump of 7.97 metres.

Before Sreeshankar's heroics in the ongoing CWG, India's Suresh Babu had settled for bronze in the 1978 edition of the games. Talking about the women's long jumpers from the country, Prajusha Maliakkal fetched silver in the 2010 edition in Delhi whereas legendary athlete Anju Bobby George earned a bronze medal 20 years back.