Federation Cup: Sreeshankar sets record but is beaten to gold

PTI

Kozhikode, April 3

Tamil Nadu’s Jeswin Aldrin beat Tokyo Olympian S Sreeshankar of Kerala to the long jump gold with a huge wind-aided effort of 8.37 metres in a dramatic contest on the second day of the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships here today.

However, Aldrin’s performance won’t be counted for record purposes because the tail wind speed measured on the wind gauge was +4.1m/s, well above the legal limit of +2m/s. But Aldrin qualified for the World Championships — to be held in USA in July — on the basis of his legal jump of 8.26m. The World Championships qualification standard is 8.22m.

Sreeshankar, who jumped 8.36m in his third attempt with a valid wind speed of +1.5 m/s to win silver, broke his own national record of 8.26m. He also qualified for the World Championships.

The event witnessed nine jumps over 8m, though two of them were wind-aided above legal limits.

Aishwarya’s gold

The exciting battle at the long jump pit stole the thunder from Aishwarya Mishra’s gold-winning effort in the women’s 400m. The Maharashtra athlete brought everyone to the edge of their seats with a sensational 400m sprint in 51.18 seconds, the fifth-best time by an Indian woman. Only Hima Das (50.79s) and Manjeet Kaur (51.05s) have run quicker than Aishwarya. —