Murali Sreeshankar has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2021 in the long-jump event. He broke his own previous best to set a national record in long-jump at the Federation Cup. Sreeshankar went past his previous best of 8.20m and jumped at a distance of 8.26m. This is also a national record in long-jump. With this effort, the 21-year old athlete has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics which are set to happen later this year. The qualification mark for Olympics was 8.22 but Sreeshankar was 0.04m past the qualification mark.
The Sports Authority of India also released a tweet informing about the athlete’s achievement. It read: “Sreeshankar qualifies for Olympics! #TOPSAthlete long jumper #Sreeshankar has qualified for #Tokyo2020 with a national record jump of 8.26m at the Federation Cup. He surpassed his own record of 8.20m and the Olympic qualifying mark of 8.22m. #GemsofSAI #JeetengeOlympics”
All the action is taking place during the 24th Federation Cup at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala. The tournament started on Monday and will go on for five days covering 38 events.
The Federation Cup is also seen by some as a final chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The 24th Federation Cup has seen the presence of some superstars including Neeraj Chopra, Hima Das, Dutee Chand and Annu Rani.
Dhanalaxmi of Tamil Nadu shocked both Hima Das and Dutee Chand in a 100m race that was seen as a showdown between Das and Chand. Dhanalaxmi clocked 11:39 while Dutee Chand came second with 11:58. Hima Das was disqualified for a false start.
Watch all the action of the 24th Federation Cup, Live from Patiala on the Athletics Federation of India’s Youtube Page. Click here for live action!
Nonetheless, Sreeshankar will now have the hopes of the entire country with him.