It was a wise and timely decision to switch to decathlon because I wasn’t able to cross 2.30m in high jump.
“I’m not a failed athlete (high jumper). But I reached a saturation point in high jump where I couldn’t scale new heights to excel at the global level. I wanted to cross 2.30m in the high jump without which it was hard to earn a podium finish at international level. It was a crucial moment of my sports career. Instead of giving up, I switched to decathlon,” Tejaswin Shankar, Commonwealth Games medalist in high jump reveals. “I’ve done better in decathlon at the international level. My next goal is 2026 Asian Games.”
The 26 years old set national men’s high jump record of 2.29m in 2018 in Texas, USA. Despite competing at international level, he wasn’t able to raise the bar.
However, at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in China in 2023, he clinched silver in decathlon (7666 points). Earlier that year, Shankar won bronze in decathlon at the 2023 edition of Asian championships held in Bangkok, Thailand.
This year at the Gumi Asian Athletics Championships held in Korea in May, he won silver in decathlon with 7618 points. His national record in the decathlon is 7826 points set earlier this year.
Finishing second at the Asian meet denied him a chance to earn a berth at the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships held in Japan from September 13 to 21. The Asian champion in Gumi got an automatic berth to Worlds in Japan.
“I narrowly missed gold in Gumi. Just by a few points,” Shankar told Sportsbackstory.com. “It would have been an enriching experience to compete at the Worlds.”
The Delhi-based athlete was among those Indians who got a full-time scholarship at the USA University. He competed in NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) which further enabled him to grow mentally and physically.
He was NCAA high jump champion in 2018 (2.24m) and 2022 (2.27m). He also set a national men’s high jump record of 2.29m in 2018 in Texas, USA.
At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games he won silver in high jump with a height of 2.22m. At the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games he finished seventh with a jump of 2.24m.
As an elite high jumper, he reached a saturation point and switched to gruelling decathlon—ten discipline events spread over two days.
Speaking to Sportsbackstory.com on the sidelines of a function held recently in Delhi, Shankar said he was currently based out of Bhubaneswar in Odisha to prepare for next season. “I’m training at Bhubaneswar’s Indoor Stadium at Kalinga Stadium,” the 26 years Asian Games silver medallist adds.
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