From high jump to decathlon: Tejaswin Shankar wants to sit on the throne of games

“After the first day you are on your knees. At the end of the second day your face is literally on the floor. That is how exhausted you are,” high jump national champion Tejaswin Shankar says.
Tejaswin Shankar amassed 7,648 points and won silver. (File)
The 24-year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medall high jumper says he is gratified his own pain and suffering as he describes how physically draining the decathlon can be. Ten events over two days. And a sleepless night in between with ceaselessly-churning thoughts on how to push the body through another day of five more events.
“After a high jump competition, I would think about perfection. That (chasing perfection) would get into my head and that was really detrimental. I needed something to bring me to my knees and at the same time give me the feeling that I gave it everything I could. After a decathlon, for one week you don’t want to look at your training shoes. That was the feeling I was craving,” Tejaswin adds.
Last week he participated in his second decathlon and narrowly missed the national record 10 points. At the Jim Click Shootout in Arizona, Tejaswin amassed 7,648 points and won silver.
Tejaswin, if all goes well, will participate in both the high jump and the decathlon. (File Photo)
“I was upset for 15 seconds because 10 points is literally nothing over two days. It is not even a good day versus a bad day. But then you don’t have any energy left to think,” Tejaswin said.
He didn’t enter the record books but there was a silver lining. His tally of points was more than 7,500, the qualifying standard set the Athletics Federation of India for the Asian Games.
Tejaswin, if all goes well, will participate in both the high jump and the decathlon. But he is pragmatic because he is learning the ropes of multi-events.
Tejaswin Shankar of India competes in the men’s high jump. (AP Photo)
“Me and the decathlon cannot work without the high jump. Because I rely on the high jump to get the most points in the decathlon. But that being said, this year if I have to go to the World Championships or next year if I have to go for the Paris Olympics, it is not going to happen in the decathlon. But in three to four years I do see myself scoring 8,400 to 8,500 points. If you look at it, in seven out of 10 events I am pretty good and in five out of 10 events, I am really good, on par with those guys (Olympians).”
The decathlon is a test of an athlete’s all-round ability – speed, agility, power and endurance. The 10 events are divided equally over two days. The 100 metres, long jump, high jump, shot put and 400 metres are contested on Day One. The 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin and 1500 metres are the events on the second day.
Medals for the country in the high jump is not Tejaswin’s sole focus anymore. (EXPRESS PHOTO PRAVEEN KHANNA)
Participants earn points for each event depending on how they perform and at the end of 10 events, the one with the most points wins.
Tejaswin’s fortunes change between the first day and second. The discus, javelin and pole vault are not his strong suits. So after doing almost as well as Olympic decathletes on the first day (about 4,300 points), he can’t keep up the next day.
“In Day Two events, in three I am behind. In 1,500 metres and hurdles I am average. After Day One (at the Jim Click Shootout) I was in a good spot. Close to 4,400 points, which is what Olympic decathletes score on Day One. I thought I could break the national record. But I am nowhere close to those guys on Day Two. Come pole vault and I knew I had messed up. I wanted to cross 3.80 metres in pole vault but could do only 3.60,” Tejaswin says.
Of his three Achilles Heel events, the pole vault is the biggest challenge compared to the other two.
Tejaswin’s fortunes change between the first day and second. (File photo)
“It is the most intimidating event. You are not looking where you are going and you are depending on something outside your body to throw you over a dance. It is very counter-intuitive, because once you are in the air it is like you have to hold onto something so you don’t fall down. But in reality if you want to move you have to push the pole and then you have to invert yourself, then you need body awareness to flip over the bar. You are not looking at the crossbar at all, a little like the high jump but very different.”
Improving the height in the pole vault can be very rewarding because the moment it clicks Tejaswin believes he can go from 7,600 points to 8,300 to 8,400 points.
“In discus if you throw 35 metres and then you throw 40 metres, it is great but you are not going to end up scoring as many points as the pole vault. Right now I am jumping over 3.60 but if I can add a metre, it is so much more.”
The decathlon bug
In his second year at the Kansas State University, one of Tejaswin’s training partners was New Zealand’s Aaron Booth, a World University Games Decathlon champion. Booth couldn’t match Tejaswin in the high jump, but the Indian realised he was close to the New Zealander in the long jump. Tejaswin wanted to give the other events a shot, though he admits he didn’t realise at that point he would have to be good at the pole vault, discus, and javelin.
“I just thought you can be average and get points. But he (Booth) told me you have to be good at all. He told me “let us take a bet and see how much you score in the pentathlon (five events)’.”
As it turned out, Tejaswin won three of the five events but his total score was less than Booth’s. “I was like, ‘what happened?’. That is when I realised it is a mental game and so much more than being just athletic.”
Tejaswin participated in his first decathlon last May. He had given the high jump a break because of tendonitis in the knee. His coach told him to try the other events in the decathlon so he remains fit to switch back to the high jump. Tejaswin accumulated 7,592 points at the Big 12 Conference Championships, three months before he won a bronze for India at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Medals for the country in the high jump is not Tejaswin’s sole focus anymore. The gruelling decathlon has caught his fancy and given him a new direction.
“I have realised that my competitive nature is not just about a medal. It does not motivate me as much as how I can get better. I just like to understand the possibilities. That is why multiple events really keep me occupied and at the same time helps me dive into the nitty gritty of the sport. I feel medals will come but to have a champion’s mind set, I feel doing these multiple events will help.”

Tejaswin in decathlon events:
100 metres: 10.81* secs
Long jump: 7.63* metres
High jump: 2:29m #
400m: 48.41s
Shot put: 13.77 m
110m H: 14.63s
Discus: 36.67m
Pole vault: 3.81 metres
Javelin: 46.84m
1500m: 4:36.10
*wind assed; # national record; stats: World Athletics