"He’ll smoke me" - Indian men's high jumper Tejaswin Shankar jokingly reflects on competing with Murali Shreeshankar
Indian men's high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who missed the Paris Olympics 2024, had a hilarious response when asked to compete in a 100m event against Commonwealth Games and Asian Games silver medallist Murali Shreeshankar.
"Bro he’s a long jumper he’ll smoke me in the 100. Think of another event. Maybe 200?", said a humourous Tejaswin after being asked by a fan handle on Instagram to compete.
Tejaswin had earlier posted a funny photo with Murali who had also missed the Paris Olympics. Both were decked in nice casual attire and joking and having fine.
"Shankar x Shankar = Shankar²", the caption on the Instagram post read.
Why did Tejaswin Shankar and Murali Sreeshankar miss out on the Paris Olympics 2024?
Both Tejaswin Shankar and Murali Sreeshankar missed out on competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but both are determined to make a strong return to athletics.
Tejaswin Shankar, the national record holder in men's high jump, could not qualify for the Paris Games as he failed to achieve the required jump height and did not meet the necessary rankings.
Despite securing a silver medal in decathlon at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Tejaswin only managed a best jump of 2.23m in five high jump events this year. This was far from his personal best of 2.29m and the Olympic qualifying mark of 2.33m. Ranked 46th in the world, he missed out on being one of the top 32 athletes set to compete in Paris.
On the other hand, long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, a silver medallist in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games, also missed the Paris 2024 Olympics due to injury. The 25-year-old had qualified for the Games by surpassing the Olympic entry standard of 8.27m with a jump of 8.37m at the Asian Championship in Bangkok last year.
Sreeshankar, who hails from Palakkad, was set to begin his season at the Shanghai Diamond League. However, a knee injury sustained during training in April required surgery, cutting his season short and ruling him out of the Olympics.