Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, who suffered an injury during the Asian Games in Japan, underwent surgery on his right ankle and is turning his attention towards returning to the competition in the 2027 athletics season.
The 27-year-old Indian athlete confirmed the procedure in a social media post.
“As much as I didn’t want to go through all this, I didn’t have a choice this time either. I underwent a minor ankle surgery yesterday at Fortius Clinic London, under the care of Dr. Pieter D’Hooghe,” Sreeshankar wrote.
Sreeshankar hurt his ankle during the long jump final at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya last month.
Competing on a rain-soaked runway, he slipped on the take-off board as he lined up his fourth attempt and twisted his right ankle. He posted a video of the incident on his Instagram page.
The mishap forced him to skip his final two jumps, but his second-round mark of 8.07m held up for the silver medal.
Sreeshankar had initially felt the ankle was not seriously hurt and would heal with rest and rehabilitation, but further scans and consultations pointed to surgery.
The ligament reconstruction was carried out on Tuesday under sports orthopaedic surgeon Pieter D’Hooghe.
Murali Sreeshankar, who previously held the Indian long jump national record before being pipped by Jeswin Aldrin, however, noted that he will be ready for the upcoming season.
“Surgery was deemed necessary to ensure that my ankle is stable and ready for the upcoming season, with the World Championships 2027 in Beijing and, most importantly, LA 2028,” Sreeshankar noted.
The Indian athlete, a silver medal winner at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Athletics Championships, has had torrid luck with injuries lately.
A knee injury saw him miss the Paris 2024 Olympics. He returned to competitive action after a long layoff in 2025 and built himself up to win silver medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games before suffering another setback.
Addressing his run of injuries, Sreeshankar struck an upbeat note as he looked ahead.
“Some of you might be wondering why this guy keeps getting injured again and again. Tbh (to be honest), I don’t have an answer to that. I could simply blame it on the wet takeoff board or perhaps my fate, but neither is going to help me. I’d rather accept what has happened and keep working towards becoming the best version of myself,” he said.
“But one thing I know for sure is that I have that extra comeback gene and the Mamba Mentality in me. That will do the job,” Sreeshankar, a fan of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, concluded.
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