A crushing disappointment can be very taxing for even the most philosophical of people. And when an athlete of stature comes up with a flat, lackluster show on the biggest of stages, a sleepless night can be one of the offshoots. Thoughts of what went wrong and what could have been better can rankle – as Indian Long Jumper M Sreeshankar may have found out on Monday night.
Sreeshankar denied being disappointed after not making it to the final of the men’s Long Jump in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. But surely, he will hurt because the last qualifying spot went at 7.98m, a distance that he had crossed in four of the five competitions since returning to competition after more than 21 months because of from injury and extensive rehabilitation.
Did anyone expect him to make it to the final? Of course, many would have. Not the least being Sreeshankar himself. He is among the bunch that feels let down by his inability to find the speed approaching the take-off board and the elevation to jump close to 8.00m. After getting 7.78m in his opening attempt, he managed 7.59m and 7.70m, below his potential.
Having said that, the qualifying round in a field event in global competitions can be a terrifying beast in itself, something beyond the understanding of most in a nation that merely looks at numbers when judging athletes. There are but three attempts to get everything right and secure a place in the final. And there are many things that can go wrong on a given day.
However, much as we may like to argue, it would be a massive punt to look beyond Neeraj Chopra to get India a medal in the World Championships. Did anyone expect Sreeshankar, arguably India’s second best bet in the squad, to win a medal? It is unlikely that this question will be answered in the affirmative. Yet, it is a positive sign that more is expected of Indian track and field athletes.
The debilitating knee injury ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has kept him away from training and competition for a long time. And it is just possible that he had thrown his everything in rising up the Road to Tokyo charts and left with precious little in the tank to fuel his dreams of making it to a World Championships final for the second time in three attempts.
Then again, he is not a remanent from the past when qualifying for a global competition was a major feat in itself and it did not matter to many if most of these athletes did not replicate their performances in the big ticket event. He is from a generation that goes out there to compete rather than participate. All said and done, he has a top eight finish in the World Championships.
Then again, it is true that in some ways, Sreeshankar may have stretched himself to secure a berth in his third successive World Championships. He competed in five events, including two in Portugal and Kazakhstan, to earn enough points to be ranked World No. 40 and to make the 36-athlete cut off for Tokyo.
It was as if a competitive fire raged in his mind, but the body seemed to be indicating that he had packed too much in too little time in the previous two months, rather like a timelapse video in which everything appears to be in a rush. A realisation that being back in the mix is a blessing in itself has helped him deal with the outcome – or the lack of it – on Monday.
Yet, but for Sreeshankar’s whistlestop efforts in July and August, India would have gone unrepresented in the Long Jump competition. For, National Record holder Jeswin Aldrin’s form has not been the most encouraging. His quest for an 8.00m leap since attaining the mark in the last World Championships in Budapest has remained fruitless.
For all that, Sreeshankar may have to seek inputs that offer him a different perspective to his father-coach S Murali. He will then have to embrace some of those points to regain the consistency that saw him not only peak each of his earlier three seasons beyond the 8.25m mark but win silver medals in the Commonwealth Games (at 8.08m) and Hangzhou Asian Games (8.19m).
Of course, the sun rises the day after some have endured disappointment just as it does the day after some have attained heady success. When he pauses and reflects a bit more – and away from the din and bustle of the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo – Sreeshankar may realise that he will have to find ways to bolster his coaching inputs.
