Tejaswin Shankar keeps India awake till 1.30 am, scales 2.22 metres to win a historic bronze medal in high jump at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
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Tejaswin Shankar
Tejaswin Shankar kept fans in India awake till the wee hours of Thursday. Competing in his second Commonwealth Games, the 24-year-old from New Delhi, who spent over five years at Kansas City University, United States of America, won a rare high jump bronze medal in Birmingham. Around 1.30 am IST, Thursday, when it was pin-drop silence at most households glued to TV sets, Tejaswin went about his job of competing in a rich field with monk-like serenity.It was a shoot-out of sorts, straight, with no qualifying for the final.
The last few weeks for the Indian have been one of suspense, agony, frustration and nervous wait. If at first, he was not selected for the Commonwealth Games by the Athletics Federation of India, the entire backup system supporting Tejaswin, consisting of family members and close friends knocked on the doors of the Delhi High Court.
Once his plea was heard, the AFI was asked to explore the possibility of including Tejaswin in the squad. There was a brief dilly-dallying, reconvening of selection meeting. And when he got the nod from the AFI, it was time for more drama as the Indian Olympic Association was unable to get him an accreditation card from Birmingham.
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Early struggles of Tejaswin Shankar
Call it will, call it fate, call it divine intervention, Tejaswin boarded the flight to Birmingham after enormous suspense. Any other athlete in his place may have become a nervous wreck. No, here was the young man who has faced hardships in life from a young age. When he lost his father at a young age when he was in middle school in Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, the emotional cushion provided to him by family, teachers, students and the entire campus was phenomenal.
When you have faced an emotional crisis early on in life, it makes you a very hard person. Tejaswin was a hero. His natural talent needed to be channelised. If first, he dabbled with the cricket ball to become a fast bowler, track and field came to him, naturally. His alma mater, SPV, has produced many first-class cricketers and even internationals, like Vivek Razdan. By the time Tejaswin ‘Bhaiyya’ as he was addressed was in Class 12, he was already a hero. Well-meaning coaches helped him out at a nascent stage, where Sunil Sir, from the school, paid a lot of attention to him.
Tejaswin’s efforts in school were inspirational. Such was the rub-off effect, his batch-mates, too, wanted to take up running and throw events. Once he passed out from school in 2017 after completing Class 12 boards, he went straight to the US Collegiate system. This is where his skills were honed further as he went through the grind. In the past, too, many Indian athletes have gone to the US collegiate system from Vikram Ventaraghavan (tennis) to Mahesh Bhupathi and later Somdev Devvarman.
There were many more as well, but not all took to the sport with the goal of excelling and representing the country at the highest level. Even as the Commonwealth Games had begun in Birmingham, Tejaswin was unsure, of what lay in store, as he sat at his home in South Delhi. Training in the humid weather at the Nehru Stadium in the Capital was the only option. Once he was on board the flight to Birmingham, the only thing which the young man must have thought about was delivering a medal for India on the big stage.
In the good old days, for an Indian athlete (track and field) to succeed in the CWG was near impossible. In Birmingham, the entire focus was on Neeraj Chopra, who, after his silver medal effort in Euegene Portland, had to pull out of the Commonwealth Games due to a hamstring injury. An MRI revealed he needed rest, so his trip to Birmingham was cancelled. It is well known Neeraj and Tejaswin are good friends. Deep down, Tejaswin must have realised what the pressure of expectation was.
Tejaswin Shankar, becoming India’s first medallist in high-jump
To have competed once before in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and finished sixth was four years ago. In 2022, Tejaswin is seen as fitter, stronger, and technically better equipped to produce good jumps. He uses the well-known Fosbury Flop method, which looks so elegant when executed to a nicety. After clearing 2.22 metres, Tejaswin was kind of weighed down. The mind games had begun. He knew attempting beyond this was not going to work, on this particular day.
World indoor championships bronze medallist Hamish Kerr of New Zealand won gold after clearing 2.25m. He pipped defending champion Brandon Starc from Australia, also courtesy of fewer attempts. The rivalry between Kerr and Starc was in full bloom. Tejaswin had to focus on his own attempts. “I’ve been seeing these guys [Hamish Kerr and Brandon Starc] on TV all the time so just to share the podium with them is spectacular,” said Tejaswin later. “This is my first feather in my cap so I just want things to move forward from here,” said Tejaswin.
His celebrations after winning bronze were simple, as he draped himself in the tricolour. To become the first Indian to win a high jump medal at the Commonwealth Games becomes very special. “I had a long [US] collegiate season and started jumping in January but getting a bronze here (Birmingham) is like a dream come true. I’m just happy to take something back home with me,” Shankar said.
Meanwhile, students, teachers and those not even connected with sport in SPV, his high school, are already celebrating. They have seen Tejaswin as a young boy full of energy and disciplined. The journey has just begun. Tejaswin knows he can get better from here, what with the postponed Asian Games to be held next year in Hangzhou and the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
Last but not the least, one hopes he and the Athletics Federation of India are able to sit on the table and have a good chat. The last thing one wants to see in Indian sport is courts of law intervening. And that is not asking for too much.
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