Murali Sreeshankar had qualified for the Paris Olympics after recording a jump of 8.37m at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships, which also helped him clinch a silver medal.
Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar was ruled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics after suffering a knee injury during training which also hampered him for the entire 2024 season. Sreeshankar had qualified for the Olympics in Paris after recording a jump of 8.37m at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships, which also helped him clinch a silver medal.
The 25-year-old, an Asian Games and Commonwealth Games silver medalist, was scheduled to begin his season with the Diamond League meetings in Shanghai/Suzhou and Doha on April 27 and May 10 respectively. However, an injury suffered during training on Tuesday ended her Olympic dream. The athlete confirmed that he would need surgery to recover from his injury.
“Unfortunately, in what seems like a nightmare, but is a reality, my dream of the Paris Olympics is over,” Sreeshankar said on X. “I injured my knee during training on Tuesday, and all the tests and consultations later, it was decided that I would need surgery, which would rule me out of the one thing I have pursued tirelessly all these years.
– Sreeshankar Murali (@SreeshankarM) April 18, 2024
“All my life I have had the courage to look a setback in the face, accept situations I cannot change, and work hard to dictate the outcomes of those I can,” he added. .
“Life writes strange scenarios, and sometimes there is courage to accept it and move on. That’s what I will do.
“My journey back started the minute I injured my knee. The road will be long, difficult and will require a lot of work.
“The good thing is that I have a lot to give. I will overcome this, because that is what Mamba Mentality is,” said Sreeshankar, a fan of basketball legend Kobe Bryant.
The “Mamba mentality” in the sports world is described as a positive approach to life and sports, something that was always pursued by Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sreeshankar had become only the third Indian to finish among the top three at a Diamond League meeting in June last year. He then failed to qualify for the long jump final at the World Championships in Budapest, but bounced back with a silver medal at the Asian Games in Huangzhou.
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