Shankar eyes decathlon's 8000-point barrier as wait to better high jump national record gets longer
With the wait to better his high jump national record getting longer and torturous, Tejaswin Shankar is now looking to the decathlon for comfort.
He is now aiming to become the first Indian to break the 8000-point barrier in the multi-eventer and feels he could get there soon.
'I really feel that I can get to 8000 before (high jump's) 2.30m but I don't want to jinx myself because I've been waiting for nearly eight years for that 2.30. That's the whole reason I decided to do the combined events, so I really want to get that first,' said Shankar, the Asian Games decathlon silver medallist, in a chat with Sportstar.
'The 2.29 (his high jump national record) is the worst number to ever be, I'd rather be on 2.28 than be at 2.29 and not be at 2.30.'
The 26-year-old broke the decathlon National record (new record 7666 points) at the last Asian Games and his performances in the recent National Federation Athletics Championships in Kochi indicate that he is getting closer to 8000.
'For me, the biggest positives in Kochi were the javelin and the 1500m, the last two events,' said Shankar, also decathlon's Asian bronze medallist and the high jump bronze medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
'My first throw was a personal best by 2m and I was also very happy about the 1500 because it's the most dreaded event.
'In Kochi, the biggest challenge for me was not about trying to run behind somebody and run a good time, rather I wanted to run the worst time and lead the race and that's what I was trying to do, especially after the first lap. And I surprised myself at the end.'
That brought him a personal best too. Shankar would have hit another high in the pole vault too but there was a problem.
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'My best is 4.10m but I jumped 4m. The reason I couldn't take the next height was just because I didn't have a bigger pole,' he said.
After focusing on the high jump in an attempt to qualify for the Paris Olympics last year, Shankar is fully into the multi-eventer this season.
'This year and onwards, especially until LA 2028 Olympics, the goal would be to try and become the best combined events athlete I can be. That doesn't mean I'm not going to the high jump in between but that's not my primary goal.
'Even if I do 2.30m in those competitions, that doesn't mean my primary goal is to move to the high jump but to try and get as many points as I can.'
Shankar is now looking for a competition in Europe to improve his decathlon record.
'The goal is to try and get a competition in Europe later this year where I can, without worrying about the results, just score as big as I can because the conditions will be a little more friendly. Because weather definitely plays a role,' he said.
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