National record holder Murali Sreeshankar shines bright in Greece, wins long jump gold

India's premier long jumper Murali Sreeshankar won gold medal at 12th International Jumping Meeting in Kallia, Greece with an effort of 8.31m.

Tokyo Olympian is current national record holder with a jump of 8.36m, which he h achieved last month.

Sreeshankar was followed by Swede Thobias Montler, who claimed silver with an 8.27m jump, and Jules Pommery of France, who bagged bronze with an 8.17m effort in 10-man field.

Only top three jumpers crossed 8m-mark.

Jeswin Aldrin, meanwhile, finished fifth after he hit 7.69m mark at 17th Iberoamerican Meeting in Huelva, Spain.

Filip Pravdiva of Croatia (7.91m), Uruguay's Emiliano Lasa (7.82m) and Peruvian José Luis Mandros (7.77m) completed top three of seven-man field.

"Sreeshankar consistently jumping far. In 12th International Jumps Meeting , Kallia, Greece, event part of World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze. Performance 8.31 meters," Athletics Federation of India tweeted.

Competing in his first outdoor international meet since Olympics campaign, Sreeshankar warmed up on Wednesday evening with jumps of 7.88 and 7.71 metres before leaping 8.31 metres.

Sreeshankar came into competition on back of his excellent domestic form where he repeatedly breached 8m mark. Kerala athlete logged 8.14m and 8.17m at season-opening Indian Open Jumps Competitions in Thiruvanthapuram before breaking his own national record at Federation Cup in Kozhikode after a close battle with Tamil Nu's Jeswin Aldrin.

Indian athletes have been training and competing in Europe over last few weeks.