New Delhi: Murali Sreeshankar’s 2025 was a bit of a blur. The long jumper marked his comeback from a career-threatening knee injury with a short, compact schedule that saw him compete in six competitions in a little over two months. He won five of those six meets, crossed the 8m-mark thrice, and achieved his goal of qualifying for the World Championships after securing the 36th and final spot for his event through the World Rankings route.

More importantly, his left knee, which had undergone a surgery for patellar tendon rupture in April 2024, held up. “It was my comeback season and I had two goals going into it — to breach the 8m mark and to qualify for the Tokyo World Championships. That I could do both despite having very little sport-specific training and work volume was reassuring. It was really necessary to get back and be in the mix of best jumpers at the Worlds because 2026 has a number of big-ticket events lined up,” Sreeshankar said from his training base in Thiruvananthapuram.

“That said, I got very little rest and very little time to work on little technical details. At one point, I competed in 4-5 events in 40-odd days which was a little crazy.”

The 26-year-old resumed training after a five-week break in October last year, and has been steadily building up for what promises to be another busy season. The ace jumper, coached by his father S Murali, will open his season at the Indian Open Jumps Competition in Bengaluru in March.

A tight 40-meet domestic calendar notwithstanding, elite athletes such as Sreeshankar will have to plan their schedule carefully around Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and a host of World Athletics competitions.

Also on Sreeshankar’s to-do list is regaining his consistency. As an athlete who has jumped 8m or more multiple times in his career, he knows the trick. “It’s like muscle memory. You do it once, twice in the competition and it starts happening. My biggest goal will be to consistently jump 8.20-8.30m which will put me in medal position in most meets,” Sreeshankar, who boasts of the second longest jump (8.41m) by an Indian, said.

“My main competition will be the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. I am also determined to do well at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and there will also be Diamond League meets and a few training and exposure trips,” he added.

The WA Ultimate Championship in September will follow the CWG (Jul 23- Aug 2) and Asian Games (Sept 19-Oct 4), which puts a lot of premium on peaking.

“You ought to be intelligent with your training load and progression. I am in regular touch with Wayne Lombard who closely monitors my training parameters,” he said. A renowned strength and conditioning coach, Lombard and Sreeshankar came together in January 2025 and have forged a productive partnership since.

“Not many understand the gravity of his injury. Patella tendon rupture can end careers. Sreeshankar is mentally very tough which helped a great deal in his comeback. His approach run was intact even last year. His 10m split timings were as good as they were when he was hitting his personal best. He needed more jump exposure last season and that’s something he’ll get this year,” Lombard said.

Sreeshankar agreed on the mental challenges an injury of this magnitude can pose. “Such comebacks are never easy. It’s natural to be a little apprehensive; whether to go full tilt, what if the knee will give way again…but once I am at the starting mark, I am able to declutter my mind.”