Athletics
Tejaswin Shankar wins gold at David Noble Relays with wind-aided PB
He scored 7947 points in the decathlon but the performance will not count as a national record due to heavy tailwind.
Tejaswin Shankar. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
Tejaswin Shankar won the decathlon title at the 2026 David Noble Relays in Texas, USA, on Friday, delivering a wind-aided personal best performance.
He came very close to the 8000-point milestone, falling short by just 53 points, while making a strong start to his outdoor season by surpassing the qualifying standards for the Asian Games and the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
This marked the best performance ever by an Indian decathlete, as Tejaswin bettered his previous personal best. However, it will not be ratified as a national record due to excessive tailwinds in some events.
Wait for 8000 points continue
Tejaswin had a brilliant outing at this event, starting with a blistering 100m run of 10.59s, which, however, had a +4.7 wind reading and hence will not be a personal best for him.
He then had his best-ever long jump mark of 7.66m, which was also wind-aided but took him to a massive 1929 points from the first two events.
The 27-year-old continued his momentum and registered a lifetime best of 13.98m in the shot put, and followed it with two good marks in High jump and 400m.
He ended the day-1 with his ever mark of 4454 points and was on par for an 8000 points figure from the second day.
He didn't lose the momentum and had another big start to the day with a wind-aided personal best in 110m hurdles (14.09s) and then a lifetime best of 4.35m in pole vault.
He accumulated 6759 points from the 8 events, and the 8000 was looking inevitable, but then a sudden momentum dip in last two events stopped him from achieving that figure.
" Not quite the 8000+ we were all hoping for as the oxygen ran out towards the end, " said Tejaswin via a social media post after missing out on 8000 points.
Overall, it was a strong outing for Tejaswin, who now has his sights on the upcoming Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, knowing exactly what he needs to improve on.
Tejaswin Shankar at David Noble Relays 2026
Day-1: 100m (10.59s /4.7m/s), Long Jump (7.66m /4.5m/s), Shot Put (13.98 =PB), High Jump (2.13m), 400m (48.76s)
Day-2: 110m Hurdles (14.09s / 2.5m/s), Discus throw (38.08s), Pole Vault (4.35m = PB), Javelin Throw (49.14m), 1500m (4:51.14s)