NEW DELHI: India's top long jumper Murali Sreeshankar reckons Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra undoubtedly belongs among the top five track and field athletes in the world.
Sreeshankar highlighted Neeraj's exceptional ability to excel in all conditions as the key factor behind his remarkable success.
While Sreeshankar acknowledged that reaching Neeraj's level may be challenging, he expressed confidence that he himself would emerge as a strong contender in the upcoming season.
Neeraj, at the age of 25, not only clinched the coveted Olympic gold but also secured a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships.
Additionally, he holds the title of reigning Diamond League champion, having triumphed in three separate DL meetings.
Furthermore, Neeraj claimed gold medals at the Asian Games (2018) and Commonwealth Games (2018), further cementing his status as a formidable force in the sport.
24-year-old Sreeshankar recently achieved a significant milestone by becoming only the third Indian athlete to finish in the top three in a Diamond League meeting in Paris, joining the ranks of Neeraj and former discus thrower Vikas Gowda.
"He (Neeraj) has adjusted to different conditions in the world and has delivered no matter the circumstances are. He is not just a top javelin thrower but also one of the top five track and field athletes in the world right now," Sreeshankar said in an interview.
"At this stage, Neeraj bhai is comparable to Sandra Perkovic (discus thrower), Armand Duplantis (pole vault world record holder) and Christian Taylor (American triple jumper) in his prime. No matter the expectations and circumstances are, he will deliver and that sets him apart from others."
Sreeshankar, who trains at Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary, is the second leading long jumper this season after his personal best effort of 8.41m at the qualification round of the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar (June 15-19).
He said he can be near to Neeraj's level by next year.
"To reach that level, I need more experience, more and longer training and exposure abroad. This is my first year competing regularly in Diamond League. I should have done that a couple of years back.
"By the 2024 Paris Olympics, I may not be at that very high level, but I am sure I will be competitive enough to be in that mix."
Sreeshankar finished fifth in the Lausanne Diamond League on June 30 with a jump of 7.88m, the worst performance this season. He attributed the poor show to the adverse weather conditions and lack of recovery time after competing in the National Inter-State last month.
"The conditions were not that favourable in Lausanne. It was cold, windy and drizzling. There were two contrasting weather conditions, one very hot and humid (in Bhubaneswar) and the other very cold and windy (Lausanne).
"Because of weather conditions I was not able to get my approach right, all my take offs were 30 to 40 centimeters behind the board, I was not able to get my feet properly while taking off, that was the main issue."
He said he was not looking for a big jump or personal best but to be in the top three and get valuable Diamond League points.
"I was expecting something like 8.10m if the conditions were favourable. But I could not do that as 10 days back I had two rounds (qualification and final) of competitions in the National Inter-State (no time left for recovery)."
He, however, said that he needs to compete in all these competitions so that he can adjust to different conditions and be among the world's elite.
"The takeaway from Lausanne is that I need to have proper recovery time. I need to get adjusted to my rhythm. I have to work on my approach. It went really well during the qualification round at the National Inter-State (8.41m).
"I was nowhere close to my rhythm in Lausanne, but getting used to these competitive drills and adapting to different conditions however harsh they may be is very important."
Giving an example of how important adjusting to conditions is, he said, "You need more and more quality competitions to get adjusted to different conditions and get to your rhythm.
"A jump starts and ends in six seconds and I take 19 strides towards my approach. There can be big changes if either of my strides go up and down by 5 or 10cm. If there is a change of even 5cm, it will have a big cumulative effect. All these depend mainly on conditions."
Sreeshankar is in the 54-member Indian team for the July 12-16 Asian Championships in Thailand and after that he will not compete in any event till the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary (August 19-27).
"After the Asian Championships, I will have a five-week gap for World Championships, that will be a solid phase of training. I will not be competing in any event.
"After the World Championships, there is the Zurich leg of Diamond League which is the only one left before the DL finals in September. So, it (Zurich DL) will be important to try for a DL Final spot (top six of the DL season will compete)."
(With PTI inputs)
