By B Shrikant
Birmingham, Aug 5 (ANS): "I know him from the minute I took him from Dr. Suma Natarajan at 1.20 am in Kuppuswamy Naidu hospital in Coimbatore. They were telling him that he needs another coach," responds S Murali in a rhetorical manner when reminded of the days when he and his son, long jumper M Sreeshankar were under the spotlight before and during the Tokyo Olympics as his son had a poor outing at the Olympics.
"He is my son, I am with 365 days 24x7 with him, Other coaches will come, give coaching and go. But I will always remain with him," said Murali, who has faced criticism for hanging on to his talented son and preventing him from becoming a medal prospect by training under a big star. Sreeshankar too was comfortable with his father's ways of training and wanted to continue.
Murali's faith in his coaching and his son's ability to grasp and excel was repaid when M Sreesankar won the silver medal in the long jump in the 2022 Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.
Murali has coached Sreeshankar since he started jumping and brought him to a level that he broke the national record and became a medal contender at international events.
Murali said he had to take a long leave of absence from his work and accompanied his son to international competitions.
"Ever since I was dropped from the national camp last year, I had to take around 260-days of leave and lost around Rs 12 lakh in salary and emoluments.
"That is not a big deal. I always wanted him to do well. I am happy that he won the silver medal here for his country," said Murali who has stood by his since during his tough times and now stands vindicated as Sreeshankar has won a medal.
The renowned coach said he had thought that he would leave his son only when he starts jumping beyond the 8 metre mark one more time after breaking the national record. "I told him that I will be with he cross 8-metre again. Now this year itself he has jumped beyong eight at least 20 times," said SMurali adding his son would have come with a better performance but for the chilly and windy weather conditions.
"We are not accustomed to such conditions and have to make quick adjustments. They are used to these conditions better and try and exploit them," said Murali.