Ace long jumper Murli Sreeshankar recorded an impressive 8.09m effort to finish third in the Paris Diamond League athletics on Saturday.

This was the fourth leg of the Diamond League, an annual series of top-tier track and field competitions organised by World Athletics. However, it was the first time this year that the men’s long jump was featured in the list of events.
Murali chalked out his best jump of the night with his third attempt. The 8.09m effort put him in the second spot, only behind the reigning Olympic and Diamond League winner Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, who won the event with an 8.13m jump.

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However, a foul from S Murali in the fourth attempt and an 8.11m jump by Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer, the 2022 world championships bronze medallist, pushed the Indian down to the third spot.

Murali’s fifth attempt read 7.99m and his sixth run down the track ended with a foul.

This was his second appearance in the Diamond League. Last year in Monaco, he came sixth with an effort of 7.94m. His personal best jump is 8.36m which he logged last year.

India’s national record in men’s long jump belongs to Jeswin Aldrin, who hit 8.42m earlier this year.

Murali came into the Paris leg of the Diamond League after winning three consecutive gold medals.

The 24-year-old Indian won a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze label event in Kallithea, Greece last month with his season-best jump of 8.18m and made the cut for the upcoming Asian Games in China.

Earlier, he started his season by winning the Indian Grand Prix in March with a 7.94m jump. He also topped the podium at the MVA High-Performance athletics meet in the USA with an 8.29m wind-assisted effort.

A total of 10 athletes competed in the long jump event in Paris.

Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Maykel Masso of Cuba finished sixth with the best jump of 7.83m.

Points in the Diamond League are awarded to athletes based on their performances in each leg and the top eight athletes in each event qualify for the final.

This year, the Diamond League Final will be held in Eugene, USA, on September 16 and 17.