Tejaswin Shankar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tejaswin Shankar

• Tejaswin Shankar is an Indian track and field athlete and an accountant who specializes in high jump events. He is known for breaking Hari Shankar’s national record of 2.25 metres with a jump of 2.26 metres at the Junior National Championship in Coimbatore in November 2016. On 4 August 2022, Tejaswin won a bronze medal with the mark of 2.22m at Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham.

• Tejaswin is the first Indian to win a high jump medal at Commonwealth Games.

• During his childhood days, Tejaswin aspired to be a bowler. He used to watch videos of fast bowlers, Wasim Akram and Mohammad Amir, to practise their style of bowling. He was also a part of his school’s cricket team till the eighth standard.

  

• During his school days, Tejaswin’s physical education teacher, Sunil Kumar, advised him to try out the high jump pit. In an interview, his coach talked about how he spotted him and said,
  

  He was warming up with a group of boys and I noticed he ran with a natural bounce. Not everyone has this bounce. I asked him if he wants to give high jump a shot.” ^[6]The Indian Express

  

• In 2015, Tejaswin defeated junior national champion Jeo Jose at CBSE National Athletic Championship in Varanasi. In an interview, talking about his excitement after defeating a national champion, Tejaswin said,
  

  I cleared 1.84 metres and won the gold. I had beaten a national champion who was taller than me, who was more experienced and had a better personal best. This was when I realised I had it in me to be a high jumper,” ^[7]The Indian Express

• Tejaswin’s father, Harishankar, who was a lawyer, was not in favour of his son’s interest in athletics. He wanted him to study law and take over the family firm. Harishankar believed that apart from all the sports, cricket was the sensible choice, and he wanted Tejaswin to take advantage of his height and pursue his career in cricket as a bowler.

• In 2016, Tejaswin broke the 12-year-old national senior high jump record in Junior National Championship, Coimbatore.

• In 2016, Tejaswin finished sixth at the 17th Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a leap of 2.07m

• Tejaswin ranked third in the under-20 jumper category in the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) world list of 2016.

• In an interview, Tejaswin’s coach and talent scout Nallusamy Annavi talked about him and said,
  

  Shankar has the height but he also has strength and speed. There are many tall jumpers but height alone is not enough. You need to be strong — a kind of explosive power — and you need speed. And he has all these attributes. I have seen many jumpers over the years but nobody in recent memory has the special qualities Shankar has.” ^[8]The Indian Express

• Tejaswin became the second Indian after Somdev Devvarman, a former professional Indian tennis player, to win two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in 2018 and 2022 in the high jump category.

• In 2016, Tejaswin suffered from a slipped disc, and he was bedridden for six months. Because of his injury, he was not able to participate in the 2016 World Junior Championship. Talking about his injury, he said,
  

  I am just recovering from a slip disc. I was bed-ridden for six months from January to June. There have been times when I thought I couldn’t make it here. But here I am, all smiles and I could break the meet record of 2.23m. My sponsors JSW Sports and coach had faith in me. If not for them I would still have been bed-ridden. My coach believes that I can jump even if am missing a leg.” ^[9]The New Indian Express

• In July 2017, Tejaswin competed in the National Inter-State Sports Meet in Guntur with a mark of 2.23m.

  

• Tejaswin qualified for the finals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, held at the Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia.

  

• Shankar took a leap of 2.28 metres at the 22nd Federation Cup Indian Championship in March 2018 at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala.

• Tejaswin participated in the Texas Tech Corky-Crofoot Shootout Athletics Meet, jumping 2.29m in April 2018 in the United States.

• In June 2018, Tejaswin became the third Indian to win the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Track and Field Championship. The first Indian to win the title was Mohinder Singh Gill, he won in the triple jump category, and the second Indian to win the championship was Vikas Gowda; he won in the discus throw category in 2006.

• He participated in the West Regional Championship in 2019 at the Sacramento State University, California.

  

• In June 2022, Tejaswin competed in the World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon with a leap of 2.27m.

  

• In June 2022, Shankar was named the Midwest Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

  

• In 2023, Shankar won the silver medal in the men’s decathlon at the Asian Games with 7666 points; it marked India’s first men’s medal in the decathlon after 1974. ^[10]The Times of India