‘Like preparing for IIT and UPSC together’: Father Murali shares Sreeshankar’s comeback story

KOCHI: S Murali gave an unusual analogy to describe the struggles his son, long jumper Sreeshankar Murali, undertook to regain full fitness after a career-threatening knee injury he sustained two years ago.“Sreeshankar’s comeback was as difficult as preparing for the IIT and Civil Services simultaneously,” he told TOI.Murali is currently near Prague, where he is closely monitoring his son’s training ahead of a busy stretch that begins with the World Athletics Continental Tour (silver level) meet in Bhubaneswar on Aug 22, followed by next month’s Asian Games in Japan.“Sreeshankar’s training now revolves around strength and conditioning, along with the prehab and rehab programme designed by coach Wayne Lombard. There is very little time to work on technique. The priority is to protect the knee on his take-off leg,” Murali said.His IIT-UPSC analogy aptly captures the magnitude of the challenge Sreeshankar faced after suffering the devastating injury just months before the 2024 Paris Olympics.Two years later, the journey came full circle when the 27-year-old clinched the silver medal at last week’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.“Of all the medals Sreeshankar has won, this one gives me the greatest satisfaction because of the circumstances under which he achieved it. It reflects his mental toughness and hunger,” Murali said.The conditions in Glasgow were anything but favourable.“It was around 12 degrees Celsius with drizzle and strong winds, making the runway tricky,” Murali said. Despite the difficult conditions, Sreeshankar produced a best jump of 8.09m to finish second.The performance inevitably brought back painful memories of 2024, when the family received a grim diagnosis after Sreeshankar tore the patellar tendon in his take-off leg.“The doctors in Mumbai had not seen an injury like this. I thought he would never be able to walk again,” Murali recalled.“They told us it wasn’t a common sports injury but the kind usually seen after a serious car accident. His knee was completely ruptured.”Determined to find the best treatment, Murali travelled nearly 1,900 miles with his son to Doha’s Aspetar Hospital. “The surgeons reconstructed his knee using four screws.”The Palakkad athlete spent more than eight months away from competition before beginning the long rehabilitation process.The painstaking recovery paid rich dividends. Since returning to elite competition, Sreeshankar has consistently cleared the eight-metre mark, including a season’s best of 8.38m at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June.“There is no time to bask in the Commonwealth Games glory,” Murali said, pointing to the demanding schedule ahead.Sreeshankar will now turn his attention to the Asian Games in Japan, where he hopes to upgrade the silver medal he won at the previous edition in Hangzhou.“With everything Sreeshankar has gone through, he has every reason to believe he can stand on top of the podium at the Asian Games,” Murali concluded.