Murali Sreeshankar made a best jump of 7.75 meters, first place in Portugal Athletics Meet

India's long jumper Murali Sreeshankar has brought laurels to the country at the Meeting Maya Cidade do Desporto 2025. It was a bronze-level meet of the World Athletics Continental Tour, where Sreeshankar finished with a top jump of 7.75 meters. Sreeshankar began the meet with a jump of 7.63 meters. Then he jumped 7.75 meters in round two, which was his personal best. In attempt after that, he jumped 7.69 meters and the fourth one was foul. He cleared 6.12 meters in the fifth try and 7.58 meters in the final round. Poland's Piotr Tarkowski was second, and Australia's Chris Mitrewski was third.

Murali Sreeshankar was away from the game for a long time due to a knee injury, after which he has made a great comeback. Murali Sreeshankar suffered a knee injury in April 2024, due to which he could not participate in the Paris Olympics 2024. He qualified for the Olympics by winning a silver medal in the Asian Athletics Championship-2023 with a jump of 8.37 meters.

The 2023 season was a mixed one for Sreeshankar. He won silver medals in both the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. Along with this, he also participated in the Budapest World Athletics Championship and qualified for the Diamond League Finals in Eugene.

After recovering from the injury, Sreeshankar made a tremendous comeback and won the long jump competition at the Indian Open Athletics Meet held in Pune on 12 July 2025. The competition took place at the Savitribai Phule University Sports Complex, where he jumped 8.05 meters in his fourth attempt.

The 26-year-old Murali Sreeshankar started his jump with 7.84 meters, then improved it to 7.99 meters. After this, he crossed the 8 meter mark. However, the qualification mark for the World Athletics Championships 2025 is 8.27 meters. This was Murali Sreeshankar's first competitive performance after winning a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China almost two years ago.

After a victorious comeback from injury, Sreeshankar is eyeing the World Championships to be held in Tokyo later this year and the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year.