World Athletics Championships: Sreeshankar finishes seventh in final

Eugene: Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar failed to live up to the expectations as he finished seventh in the finals with his best effort of 7.96m on day two of the World Athletics Championships here on Sunday.

Having become the first Indian male athlete to qualify for the long jump finals in the World Championships, Sreeshankar had raised hopes of a historic medal in the showpiece. But his performance in the final was way below his season’s and personal best of 8.36m. He had three legal jumps – the opening jump of 7.96m, fourth round effort of 7.89m and last attempt of 7.83m. The other three tries were fouls.

The 23-year-old must be disappointed as he could not cross the 8m mark in six attempts. He has been a consistent performer this season having jumped 8.17m, 8.36m, 8.31m and 8.23m since March and going into the World Championships. He had qualified for the finals with a best jump of exactly 8m in the qualification round on Saturday, finishing second in Group B and seventh overall.