CWG 2022: Murali Sreeshankar's foul attempt in long jump final sparks controversy; Watch

Indian athlete Murali Sreeshankar scripted history on Thursday by becoming India’s first male athlete to clinch a medal in the long jump event. Sreeshankar registered the best effort of 8.08m in the Men’s Long Jump final at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham and clinched the silver medal. While he had his eye on the gold medal, he ended up committing two fouls in the final and was awarded the silver medal.

The 23-year-old started off with a jump of 7.60m in his first attempt, before registering 7.84m in his next two attempts. In the second round, during his fourth attempt, he ended up committing a foul after overstepping the whiteboard. The jump was called a foul by just 1cm, which became the most talked about point for sports fans on social media. 

However, Sreeshankar made a sensational comeback in his 5th attempt with a jump of 8.08m, which handed him 2nd place in the points table. In his 6th attempt and last attempt, the athlete made another foul and had to settle for the silver medal. While the entire nation celebrated the seventh silver medal win for India at the ongoing CWG 2022, sports enthusiasts also questioned the foul after looking at the video evidence of the jump.

Watch Murali Sreeshankar in disbelief after his foul attempt:

‘A bit disappointed that I could not win gold,’ says Murali Sreeshankar

Speaking to ANI after his silver medal win, Sreeshankar revealed he had been waiting for a medal for a long time. However, he added that due to the unfavourable conditions, he missed out on his personal best. The 23-year-old also said he is disappointed for not converting the medal into gold.

“Very happy to be honest. I have been waiting for this for a very long time. I desperately wanted a medal here... I knew that a good jump will fetch me a medal here. I wanted to do my Personal Best here but unfortunately, the conditions were not quite favourable. It was windy and cold and the main challenge was to overcome these conditions. After the first round, I got a good rhythm. Happy with the silver medal. Even though a bit disappointed that I could not win the gold,” Sreeshankar said.

“I am elated. A bit disappointed that I could not win gold but happy that I won silver for the country. I would like to dedicate this medal to all those who stood by me including my father, our Sports Ministry,” he further explained.

Know how the fans reacted:

(Image: @SonySportsNetwk/@Tweets_by_Sayan/Twitter)