Inter-State Athletics: In gruelling heat, Tejaswin Shankar meets Asiad mark in decathlon

Moments after finishing the 1500m, the last event of the gruelling two-day decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar walked up to all his competitors, hugged each one and requested them to stay back in the stadium for a few minutes more.Tejaswin, who achieved the Asian Games qualifying standard set the Athletics Federation of India, wanted a group picture with all the participants. “Bhayon kahin nahi jaana hai (Brothers, please don’t go away). We need to take a picture and that should get published in the papers,’” the Commonwealth Games high jump bronze medall told them.And on his command, the athletes removed their vests. There they were, a dozen or so tired men with chiselled abs standing under bright Kalinga Stadium lights in a hot and humid Bhubaneswar.
Not just post-event, Tejaswin led the way all through.
The Delhi athlete accumulated 7,576 points (qualification mark: 7,500) in two days, regering three personal bests – in the high jump, pole vault and discus throw – during the ongoing Inter-State meet. Tejaswin, who has returned from the US after a six-year stint, was competing in his first decathlon on Indian soil. He has already completed a 7,648 points decathlon in the US earlier this year, which was just 10 points short of the national record.

Tejaswin insed we click a group picture of the decathletes. pic.twitter.com/GbeDmq6UTa
— Andrew (@AndrewAmsan) June 17, 2023
The 24-year-old credited the medal to his decathlon competitors who helped him pull off the crucial 1500m with a good pace.
“I don’t think I would have been able to push through in the 1500m event if it wasn’t for the others in the race. I dedicate this medal to all the decathletes who participated in this weather. I don’t deserve this gold, they do. If I could divide my medals into 18 parts and give them to all the participants, I would,” Tejaswin said.
One of the events where Tejaswin regered a huge personal best and accumulated a lot of precious points was the pole vault. His vault coach for the day was India’s current national record holder Siva.
“He was helping me from the sidelines. Pole vault is one of the most technical events and it is like solving a physics equation. It was because of Shiva I could make those minute changes and jumped an outright personal best of 4m,” said Tejaswin.
Tejaswin carried forward the confidence gained at the pole vault to the javelin throw, where he recorded a big throw of 52.32m (46.84 previous best).
Before the final event of the contest, Tejaswin was in two minds about whether to go all out and attempt to breach the national record or run a smooth race and just focus on qualifying for Asian Games. He chose the latter. “I hope you don’t write I was weak. I saw that I had to run below 4 min 30 seconds to break the national record and that was way better than my national personal best. Then I told myself it would be better to break the national record 200-300 points next time than just improve it 10,” he said.
1500m is the most dreaded race for decathletes as they try to squeeze out every ounce of energy from their tired legs to cap off their two-day competition on a high. “You develop a camaraderie at the end of the event. Most of us didn’t even know each other before the event but at the end, we hugged each other shirtless while drenched in sweat. That’s the kind of bond we develop,” he said.
The Pole vault is an area where he sees a lot of scope for improvement. He feels it’s not a huge ask to reach 4.20m or 4.40m with the kind of speed and explosiveness he possesses.
Tejaswin spoke at length with his competitors after the race. And they hung on to every word he uttered, nodding along as Tejaswin gave his ‘decathlon masterclass.’
“I want to be the torchbearer of the sport. I saw that people came to watch my pole vault event despite the unbearable heat and that is what I want. There are tremendously talented people in the sport but they need to be highlighted. I think it is time to promote the sport,” he said.
Despite making his intentions clear that he would focus on decathlon for the Asian Championships and Asian Games, the high jump isn’t going to take a back seat, Tejaswin said. He has set his sights on the Paris Olympics, where he hopes to compete in his pet event but for now, his focus is on the 10-event contest.
“Just because I had a good high jump I was able to lift myself and do well in the other nine events. I have to focus on jumping higher. I am aiming at knocking on the doors of 2.30m. Since 2016 every year I have jumped over 2.25m, so if I have that consency why can’t I jump 2.30m? That is my next target,” he said.
With just a month left for the Asian Championships to be held in Bangkok, Tejaswin is planning to pack his bags and go JSW campus in Bellary for his recovery.
“The real challenge is how well I can recover and replenish the fluids I have lost now. There isn’t enough time to make technical changes or massive improvements in terms of performance. I have to be extremely fresh…so that the 11.20s in 100m becomes a 10.80s and that sets the tone for the competition,” he said.