Tejaswin Shankar (born 21 December 1998) is an Indian athlete who competes in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

event. He holds the high jump national record of 2.29 metres set in April 2018.

Early and personal life

Shankar was born on 21 December 1998 in Delhi into a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

family. He hails from Saket in South Delhi. He studied at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi, where he played cricket until eighth grade before his physical education teacher suggested he switch to high jump. He soon started winning medals at inter-school athletics meets. His father Harishankar, a lawyer, died of blood cancer in 2014. Shankar received a four-year athletics scholarship to the

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

in 2017 where he studied business administration. In what is perceived as an unconventional career choice for an active athlete, he has a corporate career in the US, where he works for Deloitte. He quit this job to focus on being a "full-time athlete".

Career

Shankar won the gold medal at the

2015 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the V Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Samoa 2015, was the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games which started in the year 2000. It was held from 5 to 11 September, 2015 in Apia, the c ...

in Apia, setting a Games record of 2.14 metres. He won silver at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

in Guwahati with a leap of 2.17 metres. Due to a groin injury, he finished sixth at the Asian Junior Championships and missed the 2016 World Junior Championships. At the age of 17, Shankar rose to prominence when he broke

Hari Shankar Roy Hari Shankar Roy (born 4 April 1986) is an Indian track and field athlete from West Bengal who specialises in the high jump. He held the previous national record of 2.25 metres (7 ft 4.58 in) set on 28 September 2004 in Singapore during th ...

's 12-year-old national record of 2.25 metres with a jump of 2.26 metres at the Junior National Championships in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

in November 2016. He was the third best

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

junior high jumper in the world that year. He was bedridden for six months in 2017 with a

slipped disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physic ...

. In January 2018, Shankar broke Roy's indoor national record with a mark of 2.18 metres, and then bettered it by a centimetre the same month. In February, he further improved on his indoor record with a 2.28 metres leap at the Big 12 Indoor Athletics Championships in Ames. Shankar finished sixth at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

during qualification for the games Shankar bettered his own national record by jumping 2.28 metres at the 22nd Federation Cup Indian Championships in Patiala in March 2018. It was the joint-best performance to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. He further broke his national record by another centimeter representing K-State athletics, jumping 2.29m in April 2018 at the Texas tech invite. Shankar, who was not initially selected in the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

contingent despite meeting the qualification standard, took the

Athletics Federation of India The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is the national governing body for Athletics sport in India, and is responsible for conducting competitions in the country. It was formed in 1943. It is affiliated to World Athletics and Asian Athletics A ...

to court and was later brought in as a replacement. He secured the bronze medal at the event in Birmingham with a jump of 2.22 metres; this was India's first ever high jump medal at the Commonwealth Games. He switched to the decathlon and won a Bronze at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in July. He then bettered the decathlon Indian National Record by 6 points in October 2023, to finish second at the 2022 Asian Games, earning a silver medal. In February 2024, he won gold at the World Athletics indoor tour challenger, the high jump gala at Elmos 2024 in Belgium. He intends to qualify for high jump event of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The qualifying mark is 2.33m.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Tejaswin 1998 births Living people Athletes from Delhi Indian male high jumpers Indian decathletes Kansas State University alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Kansas State Wildcats men's track and field athletes South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in athletics Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners