CHENNAI: The tussle for supremacy in long jump has just got more absorbing. Jeswin Aldrin, who has had quite a few close encounters with Commonwealth Games medallist Murali Sreeshankar last season, has had a monstrous leap on Thursday in the season opening meet. He eclipsed Sreeshankar’s 8.36m achieved last year with a 8.42m.
To put the distance into perspective, Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou who won gold at Tokyo Olympics managed 8.41m ahead of Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarría’s 8.41m. The world record of course is 8.95m by the great Mike Powell. Jeswin, who hails from Mudalur, a small town, in Thoothukudi district, warmed up with a 8.26m in the second attempt before lunging himself to the national record mark at the 2nd Indian Open Jumps Competition at Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary. He had had a personal best of 8.26m at last year’s Federation Cup in Thenhipalam and a wind-assisted 8.37m as well.
“Last year I thought I could break it and almost did but because of the wind it was not considered,” he said after the event. Aldrin, who trains at the IIS, felt since he achieved the mark at his home ground it was special for him. Though the record has come very early in the season, Jeswin is not much bothered. “I am focussed on the season and I want to be consistent this year,” he said. “I am looking at around 8.20-8.30m and I will be saving my best jump for the world championships.”
There have been multiple occasions when Indian athletes failed to replicate their performances at the international level and when asked, Jeswin said that it’s something new to them, especially competing at international events. “It is something... beginning for us. We did not have too many international competitions and this is the first time (World Championships last year) we are going and competing on a big stage.
If we compete more in international events, it will help us Indian athletes more,” he said. Recollecting the World Championships in Oregon last year, Jeswin said it was a great experience for him. “It was my debut in the Indian team and I am hoping to participate in more,” he said.