SHANKAR Tejaswin

General
DECATHLON
In 2023 he achieved the Athletics Federation of India's qualifying standard for decathlon ahead of the 19th asian games in Hangzhou. He set the mark in at the 2023 Jim Click Shootout competition in Arizona in what was only his second decathlon event at that level. He had first competed in multi-events tournament [pentathlon and heptathlon] in 2018 when he was studying at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS, United States of America. "Finding calm in chaos is the whole nature of the combined events. When I was solely a high jumper I'd get stressed out about one missed attempt. But in the decathlon, there are so many things that can and will go wrong. You can't have second thoughts about them. The real point is to rise above those things and make up the points elsewhere. That's the point of both the decathlon and life. It was very refreshing for me, and my whole mindset changed. Why should I narrow my scope and choose between the decathlon and high jump? Why can't I do both? Next year if I have to go for the Paris Olympics, it is not going to happen in the decathlon. At Asian level, I feel I really have a good shot in decathlon." (sportstar, 15 Apr 2023; espn, 14 Apr 2023; hindustantimes, 14 Apr 2023; indianexpress男子棍术, 12 Apr 2023; timesofindia.indiatimes男子棍术, 08 Apr 2023; worldathletics.org, 27 Mar 2023; forbesindia男子棍术, 03 Dec 2022)

MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES
He was encouraged to join a university in the United States of America by Australian coach Gary Calvert due to the high standard of athletics training. He began studying at Kansas State University in 2017. "My entire education would be paid for and the competition is so high quality in the collegiate system that at least a few finalists at the 2024 Olympic [Games in Paris] will have been in the NCAA system. So that really caught my attention. Kansas State University has a really reputed coach for high jump. It was the only college I wanted to go to but when I started emailing colleges, I received positive replies from all places but Kansas. I was very close to signing with another college just before Kansas made me an offer, and I just jumped at that opportunity. In India, when I started high jumping, my coach and I were learning off each other and we had to research a lot on how to go about things. But here in the US, the programme is tried and tested, and there is a clear pathway to success." (LinkedIn profile, 25 Sep 2022; olympics, 04 Aug 2022)

SELECTION DISPUTE
Despite achieving the qualifying standard, he was initially not selected to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, as he had not attended the 2022 National Senior Inter-State Championships in Chennai, India, which acted as the final selection trial for the Indian team. He successfully challenged the Athletics Federation of India's decision not to select him in the High Court of Delhi. His entry for the Games was initially rejected for being too late before he was eventually cleared to compete five days before the start of the Games, and went on to win bronze in the high jump. "I feel great. I had a long journey coming here [to Birmingham]. I am glad to have made the most of that opportunity and grateful to everybody who made it happen. I had a long [US] collegiate season and started jumping in January but getting a bronze here is like a dream come true and I'm just happy to take something back home with me." (espn, 14 Apr 2023; forbesindia, 03 Dec 2022; olympics, 04 Aug 2022; thehindubusinessline男子棍术, 04 Aug 2022)

OCCUPATION
He has worked as an auditor for a professional services company in Kansas City, MO, United States of America. "During the first couple of months of doing this, I was on the brink of giving up. I was thinking, 'This is horrible. Why am I wasting my time? Why can't I just stick with what I'm doing and what I'm already good at'. Navigating that and then going into the field w

He became the first high jumper representing India to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games when he claimed bronze at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England. (SportsDeskOnline, 23 Sep 2022)