S Murali has found an unusual way to describe the gruelling road his son, long jumper Sreeshankar Murali, travelled to return to elite competition after a career-threatening knee injury.
“Sreeshankar’s comeback was as difficult as preparing for the IIT and Civil Services simultaneously,” he told TOI.
Murali is currently near Prague, where he is closely monitoring his son's preparations ahead of a packed competition schedule that begins with the World Athletics Continental Tour (Silver level) meet in Bhubaneswar on August 22, followed by next month's Asian Games in Japan.
“Sreeshankar’s training now revolves around strength and conditioning, along with the prehab and rehab programme designed by coach Wayne Lombard. There is very little time to work on technique. The priority is to protect the knee on his take-off leg,” Murali said.
The IIT-UPSC comparison reflects the scale of the challenge Sreeshankar faced after tearing the patellar tendon in his take-off leg just months before the 2024 Paris Olympics. The injury threatened not only his Olympic dream but also his athletics career.
Two years later, the 27-year-old completed an inspiring comeback by winning the silver medal at last week's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“Of all the medals Sreeshankar has won, this one gives me the greatest satisfaction because of the circumstances under which he achieved it. It reflects his mental toughness and hunger,” Murali said.
The Glasgow competition presented its own challenges.
“It was around 12 degrees Celsius with drizzle and strong winds, making the runway tricky,” Murali said.
Despite the difficult conditions, Sreeshankar registered a best jump of 8.09 metres to claim the silver medal.
The achievement brought back memories of the devastating injury that sidelined him in 2024.
“The doctors in Mumbai had not seen an injury like this. I thought he would never be able to walk again,” Murali recalled.
“They told us it wasn’t a common sports injury but the kind usually seen after a serious car accident. His knee was completely ruptured.”
Determined to secure the best medical treatment, Murali travelled nearly 1,900 miles with his son to Aspetar Hospital in Doha.
“The surgeons reconstructed his knee using four screws.”
The Palakkad athlete spent more than eight months away from competition before beginning the long and demanding rehabilitation process.
The recovery has yielded impressive results. Since returning to competition, Sreeshankar has consistently crossed the eight-metre mark, including a season's best leap of 8.38 metres at the Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar in June.
“There is no time to bask in the Commonwealth Games glory,” Murali said, pointing to the demanding schedule ahead.
Sreeshankar will now shift his focus to the Asian Games in Japan, where he hopes to improve on the silver medal he won at the previous edition in Hangzhou.
“With everything Sreeshankar has gone through, he has every reason to believe he can stand on top of the podium at the Asian Games,” Murali concluded.
