Jeswin Aldrin's massive leap earns him a national record in men’s long jump

Tamil Nadu’s 21-year-old international long jumper Jeswin Aldrin etched his name in the record books with a giant leap of 8.42m in the second edition of the National Jumps Competition in Bellary on Thursday.

The previous mark of 8.36m was recorded by Olympian Murali Sreeshankar last year. The rectification of the record will be subject to mandatory dope testing and other Athletics Federation of India (AFI) rules.

“Now I want to produce this kind (8.42m) of performance in the global meets,” Aldrin said in a post-record interaction with the media.

The jumper has qualified for the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the postponed Asian Games, scheduled to be held in the latter half of this year.

Aldrin looked in good form in the competition on Thursday. His opening jump was 8.05m, while he sailed to a distance of 8.26m in his second attempt. However, in his third attempt, he leapt to a distance of 8.42m to rewrite the national record and lead the global outdoor rankings.

Earlier in January, Aldrin won silver at the Asian Indoor Championships with a jump of 7.97m.

With Aldrin's 8.42m performance in Bellary on Thursday, the domestic rivalry with Sreeshankar is expected to attract men’s long jump more attention in the future.

Sreeshankar, however, opted out of the competition due to personal reasons.

It was a turbulent 2022 season for the newly crowned champion. He was cleared for the Eugene World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA, after two rounds of fitness trials conducted by the Athletics Federation of India. His form further dipped at the World Athletics Championships and he wasn’t able to repeat his home performance.

If the men’s long event turned out to be the highlight of the evening session, women’s long jumpers weren’t impressive.

Kerala’s Sruthilaksmi L won gold with a distance of 6.11m. The national record of 6.83m stands in the name of Anju Bobby George, achieved in 2004.

The performance in the women’s triple jump was a bit better. Kerala’s Gayathry Sivakumar gold-winning jump of 12.98m was better than the meet record of 12.68m, recorded in 2022 by Aleena Jose.