Federation Cup: Murali Sreeshankar qualifies for Olympics, sets national record in long-jump

Murali Shreeshankar on Tuesday qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the long-jump event after he set a national record in the ongoing Federation Cup.

The 21-year-old Shreeshankar set a national record after making a jump of 8.26 metres in his final attempt at the Federation Cup and as a result, he attained qualification for the Olympics.

"Sreeshankar qualifies for Olympics! #TOPSAthlete long jumper #Sreeshankar has qualified for #Tokyo2020 with a national record jump of 8.26m at the Federation Cup. He surpassed his own record of 8.20m and the Olympic qualifying mark of 8.22m. #GemsofSAI #JeetengeOlympics," SAI Media tweeted.

The qualification mark for the Olympics was 8.22 metres. Men's long jump final was the only field event final scheduled for the second day of the Federation Cup.

Javelin thrower Annu R's single-minded determination to produce a throw in excess of the Olympic qualification standard of 64.00m led her to rewrite her own national record with a 63.24m effort on the opening day of the 24th Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports complex on Monday.

The 27-year-old World No. 12 came up with a standout performance, with three throws beyond 61m, and she led Uttar Pradesh to a three-gold show in four finals. The ball was set rolling by Savita Pal, 21, who made her debut in a 10000m race a memorable one by sprinting past Sanjv Jadhav (Maharashtra). Shot putter Kiran Baliyan accounted for the third gold with a 16.45m effort.

( With inputs from ANI )