India's long jumper Jeswin Aldrin wins gold in Switzerland event
Indian long jumper Jeswin Aldrin returned to form by winning the gold medal at the CITIUS Meeting in Bern, Switzerland. Aldrin came up with a jump of 8.22m which is his best performance in the last five months. Notably, the Indian youngster is the world season leader with his jump of 8.42m that he achieved at the National Open Jumps competition in Bellary.
Why does this story matter?
Jeswin is India's national record holder in the long jump, clocking 8.42m. He suffered various injury concerns which pegged him back from performing consistently. Jeswin's performance at the CITIUS meeting is the best in five months. He has surpassed the 8m mark for the first time since May. He did not feature in the 2023 Asian Athletics Championship and Lausanne Diamond League.
How did the event pan out?
Jeswin recorded his best attempt of 8.22m in his first attempt and it was also the meet record in Bern. With more confidence, he leaped 8.17m and 8.14m with second and fourth jumps, respectively. The Tamil Nadu-based long jumper fouled in his third attempt. Cuba's Alejandro Parada (8.08m) finished with the silver medal while Switzerland's Ehammer (8.03) bagged the bronze medal.
Jeswin broke the national long jump record in March
The young long jumper broke the national record in March this year at the 2nd Indian Open Jumps competitions in Bellary, Karnataka. Jeswin jumped 8.42m which is the World record for this season and it allowed him to win the gold medal. Sreeshankar came close to the record in the qualifying round of the Inter-State Athletics Championship with his jump of 8.41m.
First event since the Inter-state Senior Athletics Championships in June
Jeswin was down with an injury and therefore he couldn't feature in the Asian Athletics Championship or the Lausanne Diamond League. He won the silver medal at the Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in June with a jump of 7.98m. Murali Sreeshankar won the gold with a jump of 8.29m. He has qualified for the World Athletics Championship starting August 19 in Hungary.
Jeswin will look to qualify for the Paris Olympics
The World season leader in long jump, Jeswin needs a good performance at the World Athletics Championship to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Sreeshankar, who won the silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championship has qualified for the quadrennial event along with steeplechaser Avinash Sable.
