Will try to reclaim that: Tejaswin Shankar eyes Sarvesh Kushare’s high jump record

Tejaswin Shankar has already made history twice at the Commonwealth Games. The first Indian to win a medal in high jump and later the first from the country to reach the podium in the decathlon event, the 27-year-old is now chasing a bigger prize, Asian Games gold, as he looks to turn steady progress into an Olympic medal challenge.

Shankar won bronze in the men's high jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, clearing 2.22m after overcoming a dramatic selection battle to make the Indian contingent. Despite meeting the qualification standard, he was initially left out before taking the Athletics Federation of India to court and eventually earning a place as a replacement.

His Birmingham bronze was India's first-ever Commonwealth Games medal in the high jump event.

Four years later, Shankar added another first to his name, winning bronze in decathlon at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games to become the first Indian to win a medal in the multi-event discipline at the Games.

With the Asian Games six weeks away, Shankar is looking to build on the progress he has made this season and is targeting nothing short of a personal best and a shot at gold.

“Last year, at this time, I was around 7,800 points. This year, all three decathlons that I've done up until this point have been about 150-200 points better than my last year,” Shankar told PTI in an interaction.

“So I've definitely progressed. I'm very happy with the progress that I've made in this one year. But we still have two years to kind of make those adjustments and try to find another 300-400 points so that we are competitive at the Olympic level.”

Shankar, however, expects a tough contest at the Asian Games, with several athletes having crossed the 8,000-point mark or come close to it this season.

“Last year, I was able to get a silver medal at 7,666 points. But going by what the performances have been this year, I don't even know if that will win a bronze medal or be on the podium at all,” he said.

“I’m aiming for nothing short of a personal best at the Asian Games. I want to go out there, give my best and try and land on the gold medal podium. That's my goal.”

Shankar had been hoping for a personal best in Glasgow as well but a knee issue during the individual high jump competition affected his plans. He nevertheless returned to compete in the decathlon two days later and won bronze.

The setback has helped him identify areas that need attention before the Asian Games. Shankar will not compete in the individual high jump at the continental event and will focus solely on decathlon.

“Now we know what can go wrong, so we'll try and address that over these next six weeks, try and really bulletproof the knee so that I give myself the best chance,” he said.

Despite shifting his primary focus to decathlon, Shankar has not given up on high jump and said he would eventually try to reclaim the national record from Sarvesh Kushare.

“Decathlon is the event that I'm primarily focused on and I want to do my best in this event. But high jump is a part of the decathlon. It's one of the 10 events,” he said.

“For Sarvesh (Kushare) to break the record, the real competitor in me wants to reclaim that. At some point, I will obviously try and reclaim that record.”

For Shankar, who competes in 10 events over two days, the secret to maintaining fitness is neither complicated nor glamorous.

“Today I'll give you the secret ingredient, the magic pill, the best drug for fitness. And that is, unfortunately, consistency,” he said.

“It's the most boring thing to do. But sometimes it's as simple as being consistent, showing up every day.”

Shankar said his current success is the result of years of sustained work, having first stepped onto a high jump pit in 2014.

“The hard part is not fitness. The hard part is being disciplined enough to be able to do that every day. If you're consistent, you will be fit,” he said.

Shankar, who is in line for the Arjuna Award, said the recognition would be another significant milestone in a journey that began with childhood dreams of winning medals and meeting the country's highest dignitaries.

“To be able to land among some of the best athletes and sportspeople in our country, and to receive it with them in front of the President of India, I think it's a very big honour,” he said.

The recognition, he added, would motivate him to continue chasing bigger goals, including medals at the Olympics and World Championships.

“I feel like there's a lot of things that I still want to do in the sport. So I think this is a great beginning chapter,” Shankar said.

While medals remain central to his ambitions, Shankar said his bigger goal is to prolong his career and remain competitive for as long as possible.

“If I can be an athlete who's competing at the age of 38 or somebody who's representing India at the 2036 Olympics as a 40-year-old, I feel like that'll be the biggest flex that I can ever have in my whole life,” he said.

“I want to have a very long career and do everything in my power to increase the lifespan of my sporting career. If I can stay fit for at least 10-15 more years, I know that I can win the medal.

“So I think the goal is not the medal, but to stay consistent and stay fit for as long as I can. Because if that happens, then the medals follow.”

Shankar also stressed the importance of private backing in Indian sport, saying the government alone cannot cater to the needs of athletes at every level.

“If we want to call ourselves a sporting nation, we can't expect the government to do everything,” he said, adding that private organisations such as Reliance and OGQ were helping athletes deal with financial and logistical challenges.

“If more people become beneficiaries of this, it will improve the sporting ecosystem in the country and make it a lot more transparent and professional.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)