Sreeshankar wins silver at Asian Athletics C'ships, qualifies for Olympics

Murli Sreeshankar became the eighth Indian to directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics after winning silver in the Men's Long Jump at the Asian Athletics Championship 2023

India’s Murli Sreeshankar became the eighth athlete from the nation to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024 after winning the silver at the Men’s Long Jump event at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023. Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medalist, Sreeshankar jumped 8.37 metres with a wind speed of -1.1. Gold was won by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Tang, who jumped a distance of 8.40 with a wind speed of +0.3. 

Sreeshankar, 24, is a bronze medalist in the Junior Asian Athletics Championships 2018. Sreeshakar, who is ranked eighth in the world, had scripted history in June by becoming the first Indian to finish at the podium in Diamond League. His score of 8.09m in Paris was enough to give him the silver behind Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, who won the gold at the Olympics in 2021. 

Overall, Sreeshankar recorded his best in the Indian Inter-State Championship in June this year, where he jumped 8.41 metres to win the gold. The National Record for the event is held by Jeswin Aldrin with a jump of 8.42 metres. 

India at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023
 

So far, India have done well at the Asian  Athletics Championships 2023, with six gold, four silver and four bronze medals to their tally. The medals have come in the following category. 

India's Medal Winners at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 till July 15th, 2023

Gold

Ajay Kumar Saroj- Men’s 1500 Meters 

Abdulla Aboobacker- Men’s Triple jump

Tajinderpal Singh Toor- Men’s Shot put

Jyothi Yarraji- Women’s 100 metres hurdles

Parul Chaudhary- Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase

Mixed 4x400 Meters: Rajesh Ramesh, Aishwarya Kailash Mishra, Amoj Jacob, Subha Venkatesan

Silver

Sarvesh Anil Kushare- Men’s High jump

Murali Sreeshankar- Men’s Long Jump

Shaili Singh- Women’s Long Jump

Swapna Barman- Women’s Heptathlon

Bronze

Abhishek Pal- Men’s 10,000 metres

Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan- Men’s 400 metres hurdles

Tejaswin Shankar- Men’s Decathlon

Aishwarya Kailash Mishra- Men’s 400 Metres