From life-threatening appendicitis to CWG silver, the 'comeback journey has been really tough' for long-jumper Murali Sreeshankar

Commonwealth Games (CWG) medal in men's long jump. "All of us had been waiting for this medal for a very long time." When Sreeshankar mentioned "all", he specifically meant his father and coach, Murali Sivashankar, a former triple-jumper, and mother KS Bijimol, who is a former international 800m runner. "I was seventh at World Indoors, multiple times sixth in Asian Games and World Junior Championships. So this really means a lot to me," he said, talking to TimesofIndia.com over the phone from Birmingham. Had it not been for a controversial foul called on Sreeshankar's fourth-round jump, he would have been wearing gold instead of a silver. That jump looked close to the 8.20m mark, as Sreeshankar waited nervously to know if the attempt was legal. It was declared a foul, and the margin was ever so little, even looking legal in pictures that circulated on social media soon after.

(Photo Source: Twitter)"I felt really good (about the fourth jump). The entire team was excited about that jump. But when it was ruled invalid, we were like, 'oh, sh**'," he recalled. "It was called foul by the smallest of margins you could ever imagine, but there is no point in saying it now. I am happy that I was able to do a good jump in the fifth round and be on the podium." On his fifth attempt, Sreeshankar equalled the mark of 8.08m registered by Laquan Nairn of Bahamas. The final ended with both the men on the same mark, which meant Sreeshankar got pushed to the second place on countback. Sreeshankar’s second-best jump in the series was 7.84m, while Nairn’s second-best distance read 7.98m. But the Indian isn't in a complaining mode, be it luck or the change in rules and introduction of technology by World Athletics last year that possibly