CHENNAI: As scores of athletes practice ahead of the Indian Athletics Open Series - 6, which is the final event before the all-important National Senior Athletics Federation Competition later this month, India's ace long jumper M Sreeshankar's presence cannot go unnoticed. The 27-year-old from Palakkad made a strong return from a knee injury last year. He was able to jump beyond the eight-metre mark and earned qualification to the Tokyo Worlds.
The Federation Competition serves as the final selection trial to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Glasgow, set to begin in July.
This year, he continued his strong run. In the Indian Jumps at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, he recorded an eight-metre leap to win gold.
As he prepares in weather conditions which have thrown everyone by surprise as the day saw rains, Sreeshankar said this is a preparatory event. "The main target is to be in good shape for the main events. But the Indian standards are also high right now. So, I have to tweak my preparations. We have two other jumpers (Shah Navas and Lokesh Selva Prabhu) who can jump 8.20 metres. After 2022, this is the first time we have three jumpers at the 8.15-8.20 metre mark which is good for the sport," he said after practice on Saturday.
With other jumpers raising the bar, Sreeshankar explained his preparations. "High tides raise all shapes. Basically, Jeswin (Aldrin) pushed me to the 8.40m range. So this will also help me get to the next level after injury,” he said.
His preparations ahead of a demanding season has so far been good, but has also come with some lessons. While he has had a 'proper pre-season,' Sreeshankar got time to do some course-correction in a high-performance training camp along with his father Murali in South Africa, in addition to taking part at the Simbine Classic in Pretoria. He learnt how to acclimatise to cold conditions, which could come useful in the upcoming CWG in Glasgow. "I learned how to get myself prepared whenever the weather changes, and strategise my warm-ups. It was a good experience," he said.
The key correction that the Asian Games and CWG silver medallist worked on is his approach. "I worked a lot on my approaches. The first two phases of my approach is where I was always getting it wrong. The approach rhythm determines everything for the jump," he said.
"If I rush in the first phase of my approach, then I have to extend my step towards the last phase of the approach. I have to be very calm and keep focussing on the push of the first few steps in the approach. I have to get the take-off board right under my hips, which is the main target. But I was doing the complete reverse, (of going full speed in the first few metres). So, that was the main problem I was facing. We worked on different strategies in the initial couple of steps," he said.
With key tweaks, Sreeshankar may spring another surprise and may position himself in a favourable position ahead of the Federation Competition in Ranchi.
Vishal rested
National record holder and quarter-miler from Tamil Nadu, Vishal TK, will not take part in the Indian Athletics series. It is reliably learnt that he has been rested as a precaution after the World Athletics Relays which took place last week in Botswana. He is expected to take part in the Senior Athletics Competition later this month. This year Vishal has taken part in two domestic events (200m event in Indian Athletics series - 1 and 400m in Indian Open series - 3).
