Athletics
Tejaswin Shankar wins gold in Big 12 Championships
21-year old Shankar, who took to high jump to strengthen his athletic frame, has been making waves in the sport in the recent past. He is a national record holder with a jump of 2.29 metres, which he set in April 2018.
India’s high jump athlete Tejaswin Shankar claimed the gold medal in the high jump event at the US Collegiate Big 12 Indoor Championships Meet while representing Kansas State University. With a jump of 2.23 metres, the player continues his fine form. He had won the Iowa State Classic last week by jumping his season best of 2.25 metres to bag top honours ahead of Zack Anderson of South Dakota. He won silver with a high jump of 2.16 metres. Jack Durst had settled for a bronze, then.
High atop the podium
? @TejaswinShankar#KStateTF x #Big12TF pic.twitter.com/9sIHcI8wiC
— K-State Track (@KStateTFXC) March 1, 2020
21-year old Shankar, who took to high jump to strengthen his athletic frame, has been making waves in the sport in the recent past. He is a national record holder with a jump of 2.29 metres, which he set in April 2018.
Starting off as a fast bowler, Shankar was asked by his cricket coach to improve his fitness, which is what led him to athletics. He competed in the Delhi State Championships in 2013, and managed a bronze with a jump of 1.70 metres. The event forced Shankar to give up his cricketing dreams as he started taking athletics seriously.
The Indian is now gearing up to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Shankar had missed the Federation Cup in 2019, and had too skip the Asian Athletics Championships as well, as a result. However, just months ahead of the Summer Games, the Delhiite is eager to represent his country at the grand stage. Confirming that Shankar might play in the Federation Cup, Radhakrishnan Nair, the deputy chief coach of the Indian middle and long-distance team, told New Indian Express, “Tejaswin is likely to compete this time around as he called and enquired about the dates of the Federation Cup. He sounded positive on participating in the tournament in his bid to qualify for the Olympics.”
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The Olympic qualification mark this year is 2.33 metres, more than Shankar’s personal best.
