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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Tejaswin Shankar, Indian decathlon's lone ranger, marches on
New Delhi: It's been just over a day since Tejaswin Shankar landed from Poland after rewriting his decathlon national record at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial meet, but he has little time or desire to celebrate. Tejaswin's focus has already shifted to his next target, although he does appreciate the significant box that he has ticked. Indian athlete Tejaswin Shankar broke his own national decathlon record securing 7,826 points to finish in the fourth spot during the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial 2025. (IIS) 'I can see 8000 on the horizon,' he said, confident after aggregating 7826 points in the gruelling 10-event competition. His previous national mark of 7666 points was logged in humid Hangzhou while winning silver at the 2023 Asian Games. It's a mark that will not instantly put him in the global spotlight considering that the Asian record stands at 8725 points and the Asian Games record is 8384, both held by Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Karpov, since 2004 and 2006 respectively. But in a discipline that feeds off incremental, accrued gains, bagging those 174 points that separate him and Mt 8000 will mean a lot. 'You may turn around and say there's nothing great about 8000, but the fact is, there can never be 9000 without crossing 8000. With proper strategy, I don't think hitting 8000 points should be a problem before next year's Asian Games,' he said. Reaching 8000, Tejaswin said, will unlock 'a whole new world' for him — 'a level 10 equivalent of video games' — as margins of error as well as room for improvement will significantly shrink. 'I would have exhausted about 90% of my capabilities by the time I touch 8k. As of now, I am operating at 40% of my abilities in events like shot put and javelin. Once I get close to 90%, I will have nothing left in me to focus on really minute aspects. To do that across ten disciplines won't be easy.' Tejaswin, who likes to call himself 'crazy' for pursuing 'an outcast sport', though has a plan in place, one that prioritises efficiency over excellence. Spread over two days, decathlon is an excruciating examination of endurance, skill, explosive power and mental fortitude where points are awarded for each event. The first day features 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metres while the second day has 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500 metres. Tejaswin, the national high jump record holder who shifted to decathlon, rates Day 1 as his strong suit with jumps being particularly productive. 'But then, there's pole vault on Day 2 which is my weak spot. That's why I tend to remain emotionally balanced even if I have a big lead after the first day. My strategy is not to lose points on my weaker disciplines and gain maximum mileage on my stronger ones. 'We don't really have to excel at everything. It's a bit of an antithesis because sport demands excellence, but decathlon tests you in innumerable other ways.' For Tejaswin, the biggest test comes in pole vault. Having begun decathlon only three years back, the 26-year-old is yet to feel truly comfortable in the discipline, mainly because of the supremely technical and unnatural nature of the sport. A regular pole vaulter begins with smaller poles before gradually moving up, but Tejaswin had to start with the regular 15-foot poles. 'As you age, you become unsure and fearful. Plus, I never had the prerequisite skill to manoeuvre my body over the bar.' To overcome his shortcoming, Tejaswin headed to Novi Sad town in Serbia, an hour's drive north of Belgrade, in the first week of July to work with coach Fedja Kamasi. Tejaswin had trained under Kamasi earlier this year in the indoor season ahead of the Asian Championships. With the Poland competition — a World Athletics Continental Gold level meet — high on his agenda, Tejaswin returned to Vojvodina Club to acclimatise and finetune his technique. So important was the Poland meet for him that Tejaswin planned his entire year keeping that in mind. Eight weeks out from the competition, he started a weekly video series on YouTube documenting his training and progress. The first part of the series was titled '8 weeks out to the national record', giving his followers a glimpse into his ambition as well as confidence. 'It (video series) kept pushing me as I was documenting everything. It wouldn't have mattered even if I had failed to set the NR, but I wanted to keep a record of my progress,' said Tejaswin, who will be next in action at the Inter State Championships in Chennai from August 22-24. The world championships in Tokyo next month is beyond reach for now – the qualifying mark is 8550.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
After new National Record, Tejaswin Shankar says 8000 in decathlon is not an impossible number
Tejaswin Shankar had only a modest celebration after he set a new national record in the men's decathlon last month. In the evening of July 27 th after he improved his own mark to 7866 points at the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial at Nakło nad Notecią in Poland, Tejaswin, his wife Siddhi and a few friends out for a pint. 'That's a tradition after every decathlon meet. If not with the other decathletes, I'll go with my team and have a beer,' he says. After that though it was work as usual. There's the usual challenge of transporting his 15 foot fiberglass poles through not always helpful airport officials back to India. 'That's something that keeps me very grounded,' he admits. In the days that have followed, Tejaswin has continued to stay busy – editing footage from the event for the final part of a video series on his Youtube channel in which he's charted his progress towards the national record. It says something about his mental clarity towards the pursuit of his goal and the confidence that he'd accomplish it that Tejaswin had titled the first video in the series posted two months ago – '8 weeks out to the national record'. His journey to that mark has been systematic, even as he's completed a few side quests – apart from shooting and editing his video series, he's also found the time to do commentary for the Neeraj Chopra classic javelin throw competition in Bangalore last month. A look at Tejaswin's performance over the last couple of years suggests the record was due. Tejaswin had set the record for the first time two years ago when he scored 7666 points en route to the silver medal in the decathlon at the Hangzhou Asian Games. READ | Tejaswin Shankar breaks decathlon National Record at Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial Since then he's come close every time he's competed in a decathlon but had never quite improved on his record mark. This hasn't always been a problem. 'At some meets like the Asian Games the point is to win a medal somehow. So there you compromise on how much you are pushing yourself in each event just so that you can return with a medal. I could probably have scored 7700 points at the Asian Games but I wanted to secure the medal in the final event (1500m) so I paced myself really conservatively,' he says. Indeed Tejaswin had initially planned on pushing for the record at the Open Nationals in Chennai later this month. However that plan changed at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea at the end of May. ' Feeling unsatisfied' Although he had won a silver medal in Gumi, Tejaswin fell short once again of his national record. He felt something was off. 'I felt as if something was missing. I hadn't done all that I think I was capable of. And that's something that I don't like feeling. When I switched from the high jump (Tejaswin is also the national record holder in the high jump) to the decathlon, it was because I didn't like the feeling I sometimes got competing in a single event that I could have done better. When you have 10 different events, there's always a chance to put off a bad individual event and then do better in the next one. But I didn't get that feeling in Gumi. I didn't get the feeling that I had done all that I could do. That's when I knew I had to compete again,' he says. But while he was itching to compete at another decathlon, opportunities at the 10 sport event are limited, let alone one with the high quality field that would push him towards a new mark. 'That's when everything came together serendipitously,' says Tejaswin. At the start of the year, he had started training with a Serbian athlete Darko Pesic in Novi Sad, Serbia. That connection saw him get in touch with a Serbian coach – Anatoly – who in turn knew the organisers of the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial in Poland. Even as Tejaswin was contemplating where he could compete, his Serbian coach put in a word with the organisers. 'It was as if I was just walking and someone came up to me and said, here have 100 rupees. This sport is a very small community. Because I knew somebody who knew somebody, I was able to get an entry to a Gold Standard event,' he says. Getting the chance to compete at a designated decathlon event was critical to his hopes of setting a new national record. 'The advantage of taking part in a combined events only competition is that the officials are a lot more relaxed. In a regular competition, the schedule is a lot more elaborate. There are a lot of procedures to flow because there are multiple events happening at the same time. At the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial though, when the high jump is going on, there's just the high jump going on. I didn't have to stop because a 1500m race was going on simultaneously. Moreover the officials want you to get a big score. So for example, what happens is assuming the wind is blowing from the north they might even change the direction of the race so that it helps the Athletes like they can make the most of a favourable wind. At the Federation Cup (In February where Tejaswin won gold with 7558 points), we only got one warm up throw in the discus because the officials had to conduct the 10000m race. But in Poland, we got 3 warm up throws. Here we decathletes were the center of attention,' he says. Zero expectations With all this in his favour, Tejaswin says he was perhaps the most relaxed he had ever been for a competition. 'I could really just focus on what I had to do. I wasn't thinking that I had to get the gold. It didn't matter to me whether I came first or fourth. I had a personal target which was to do the best I could and apart from that I didn't have any expectations on myself. For the first time that I can remember I slept a solid 8 hours in the night before my competition. Otherwise, before Korea, before Federation Cup, the Asian Games, all the time I'm sleeping maybe 3 or 4 hours maximum the night before because I'm so restless thinking about the various scenarios that could happen the next day. This time I just thought, lets see what happens. And everything went to plan,' he says. Indeed at the Wiesław Czapiewski Memorial there were three events (100m, pole vault and the 1500m) in which Tejaswin equalled or improved on his previous best. It's the results in the 400m (in which he got a season's best) and the 1500m that he was most satisfied with. 'The 400m was really significant because this season I'd run two races and both of them were 50 point something. I wasn't even able to break 49 seconds and that needed me to do some reevaluation in the 8 weeks I had after the Asian Championships. I had been training on building up my lactic tolerance and instead I started to tap into my reserve speed system. When I got to my 400m race, I had the first lane which I feel is the worst because it forces me to look at all the other runners over the course of the race. But despite this, I clocked 48.8s which is very close to my all time best,' he says. His performance in the 1500m comes in as a close second favourite. 'Running the 1500m in the decathlon is not like running a regular 1500 because you are on really tired legs on day 2. But more than a physical struggle, it's a mental challenge because at that point, at every step, your body wants to stop in the middle of the track. After the first lap, I was running with my eyes closed because I just wanted to finish my race. So I was really happy to overcome that and be able to run a personal best of 4.30,' he says. 8000 on the horizon While he might have got the national record, what Tejaswin considers even more promising is that he can see the 8000 point milestone coming up ahead. That's because while he might have met or improved his expectations for some events, there are several where Tejaswin feels he's got a high ceiling to improve. 'The decathlon is a two day event and usually after the first day's events (100m, long jump, high jump, shot put and 400m) I'm usually at around 4200 points and at my best I've done 4400 points (At the Jim Click Invitational in 2023). But I'm usually trying to not lose as many points on day 2 (110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin and 1500m). I've been scoring around 3200 or 3300 points on the second day. But over the course of these last couple of years I've slowly started improving my second days total. I actually had my best ever second day's total this time (He scored 3530 points on his second day in Poland). 'The first day is about athletic ability but on the second day it's about executing pure technique under extreme fatigue. I'm never worried about day one because I know I'm a phenomenal athlete. But the real challenge is on day 2 and I'm happy that over the last two years I've improved my second day's performance by about 200 points. I know that if I can increase my second day's total to even about 3800 points, and keep my first day between 4200 and 4400 points, I'll be able to total 8100 points. Right now I'm jumping 4.10 in the pole vault. But that number can get to 4.50m. My discus throw can start going to 45m (it was 38.28m in Poland). My javelin can go to 60m (52.89m in Poland). I also threw 12.62m in the shot put which is probably the worst I've done even in training this year. My numbers are low right now because I only started this sport about three years back. Right now I'm about 150-200 points away from the 8000 point barrier. It's not some impossible number,' he says. Tejaswin's already seeing the improvement coming through in the pole vault – which has always been his weakest event. Even though he equalled his personal best clearance of 4.10m, Tejaswin had hoped to jump far higher. 'I was expecting a 4.20 or a 4.25m clearance. I'd even bought stiffer poles than the ones I was using last year because I could see in practise that I was capable of jumping higher. But now even these poles have started to feel a bit soft. I honestly think I can be jumping at least 4.40m which isn't crazy for someone who is as tall as me and who has my kind of speed on the runway. Every 10 centimetre increase in height adds up to about 30 more points so I can gain about 100 points from the pole vault alone,' he says. Planning big If Tejaswin does start nudging the 8000m mark, he will be hoping to do so next year where there are plenty of high level competitions at which he will have to be at his best. 'I feel I am on the right trajectory. 8000 points is probably the next goal for myself from this point on. Obviously if I can push the 8000 point mark, then I'll be in a position to compete for a medal at the Commonwealth Games. The standard at that event is really high. Even in 2022, the fourth place finisher got 7700 points and we have the Olympic bronze medallist (Lindon Victor of Grenada) who are part of the field. But I really want to be the first Indian man to win medals in two separate field events,' says Tejaswin, who won a bronze in the men's high jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Should he accomplish that goal, Tejaswin will begin to dream even bigger. 'If all this happens and I do get to 8000 points, then I can aim for something even bigger in 2027 and get into a strong position going into Los Angeles in 2028,' he says. All that's for the future though. For now, Tejaswin's got his hands full. He wants to rest and recover until his next competition for the season-- which he thinks will be the Open National Championships in Chennai at the end of the month. But before that, there's still his video to complete. 'Luckily I've got a really nice end for it,' he says. Related Topics Tejaswin Shankar
India Today
28-07-2025
- Sport
- India Today
Tejaswin Shankar breaks national record, betters his previous mark in decathlon
File photo of Tejaswin Shankar. (PTI Photo) Tejaswin Shankar scripted a new national record in decathlon The athlete scored 7826 points at Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial in Poland He bettered his previous mark set in Asian Games 2023 Tejaswin Shankar broke his own national record in decathlon at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial in Poland on Sunday, July 27. Tejaswin became the first Indian athlete to score 7800 points in the gruelling 10-discipline event, as he finished 4th in the competition. He amassed 7826 points in the competition, a World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold level meet. In the last event - 1500m race- Shankar set a personal best of 4:31.80. Shankar held the decathlon national record at 7666 points, achieved at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. At the end of day one of competition, the 26-year-old Indian topped the standings after accumulating 4292 points. He'd also clocked a personal best of 11.02s in 100m which was the first of the 10 events in the sport. Tejaswin opened with a personal best in the 100m. In the long jump, he maintained the momentum with a season best effort of 7.57m, just five cm shy of his personal best of 7.62m set in 2023. In short put, he managed a modest 12.62m, which was below his season best. And then in high jump, he cleared 2.18m. Shankar has consistently pushed the barriers as an Indian athlete. Back in the Asian Games 2023, Shankar won the silver medal with 7666 points, a tally that he broke on Sunday. In that competition, Shankar had fallen only 150 points behind gold medallist, China's Qihao Sun. Tejaswin Shankar's Career Born and raised in Delhi, Shankar's athletic journey began in his school years when he switched from cricket to high jump, a decision that would shape his future career. His talent was evident early on as he started winning medals at inter-school athletics meets. Shankar's athletic prowess earned him a four-year athletics scholarship to Kansas State University in 2017, where he studied business administration. His career highlights include a gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, where he set a Games record of 2.14 meters in men's high jump. He also won silver at the 2016 South Asian Games. Despite facing setbacks like a groin injury and a slipped disc, Shankar's resilience saw him bounce back stronger. In 2022, he secured a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, marking India's first-ever high jump medal at the event. Tejaswin Shankar broke his own national record in decathlon at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial in Poland on Sunday, July 27. Tejaswin became the first Indian athlete to score 7800 points in the gruelling 10-discipline event, as he finished 4th in the competition. He amassed 7826 points in the competition, a World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold level meet. In the last event - 1500m race- Shankar set a personal best of 4:31.80. Shankar held the decathlon national record at 7666 points, achieved at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. At the end of day one of competition, the 26-year-old Indian topped the standings after accumulating 4292 points. He'd also clocked a personal best of 11.02s in 100m which was the first of the 10 events in the sport. Tejaswin opened with a personal best in the 100m. In the long jump, he maintained the momentum with a season best effort of 7.57m, just five cm shy of his personal best of 7.62m set in 2023. In short put, he managed a modest 12.62m, which was below his season best. And then in high jump, he cleared 2.18m. Shankar has consistently pushed the barriers as an Indian athlete. Back in the Asian Games 2023, Shankar won the silver medal with 7666 points, a tally that he broke on Sunday. In that competition, Shankar had fallen only 150 points behind gold medallist, China's Qihao Sun. Tejaswin Shankar's Career Born and raised in Delhi, Shankar's athletic journey began in his school years when he switched from cricket to high jump, a decision that would shape his future career. His talent was evident early on as he started winning medals at inter-school athletics meets. Shankar's athletic prowess earned him a four-year athletics scholarship to Kansas State University in 2017, where he studied business administration. His career highlights include a gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games, where he set a Games record of 2.14 meters in men's high jump. He also won silver at the 2016 South Asian Games. Despite facing setbacks like a groin injury and a slipped disc, Shankar's resilience saw him bounce back stronger. In 2022, he secured a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, marking India's first-ever high jump medal at the event. Join our WhatsApp Channel
The Hindu
27-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Tejaswin Shankar tops decathlon standings after Day 1 of Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial
India's Tejaswin Shankar topped the standings in decathlon with 4292 points on Saturday at the end of Day 1 of the 4th Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial, a World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in Poland. He has a 155-point lead over Czechia's Vilem Strasky. Switzerland's Finley Gaio sits third with 4102 points. The first event of the decathlon was the 100m where Tejaswin clocked a Personal Best of 11.02 seconds, which helped him top his heat. The 26-year-old Indian then jumped 7.57m in long jump, a Season Best, to jump to second place in the overall standings. However, a poor showing in shot put — a best throw of 12.62m — saw him drop down to sixth. Tejaswin recovered well to take the overall lead after recording a best attempt of 2.18m in high jump. In the final event of the day, 400m, he clocked a Season Best timing of 48.87s. Tejaswin currently holds the decathlon National Record of 7666 points, which he achieved during the 2023 Asian Games. The qualification standard for the event at the upcoming 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo is 8550 points. Related Topics Tejaswin Shankar
Indian Express
27-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Tejaswin Shankar breaks Decathlon national record again, takes Asian lead
Asian Games silver medallist Tejaswin Shankar broke his national record in the Decathlon event at the 4th Wieslawa Czapiewskiego Memorial, a gold-level event of World Athletics and part of the World Combined Events Tour, in Poland on Sunday. After two days and ten events, Tejaswin ended up with 7826 points, bettering the previous national record of 7666 set during his silver medal win at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Tejaswin, a high jumper-turned-decathlete, faced a competitive field featuring multiple European Indoor medallists. In the two-day event that started yesterday, Tejaswin registered a personal best in the very first event, clocking 11.02s in the 100m run to earn 856 points and finish seventh. Then, he jumped 7.57 m in the long jump, recording his season best and earning 952 points. Tejaswin recorded a 12.62m throw in Shot Put, one of his weak events, earning 644 points and finishing last in the field. However, he bounced back with a 2.18m jump in the high jump, earning 973 points. In the last event of the first day, 400m, Tejaswin clocked 48.87 seconds, his season-best in the event. At the end of the day, after five events, Tejaswin was leading the pack with a total of 4292 points. On the second day, Tejaswin started a time of 14.63s in the 110m hurdles, earning 895 points. While he recorded a season best throw of 38.28m in the Discus throw, the other competitors were far ahead, pushing him to third place overall. In pole vault, another one of Tejaswin's weak events, he equalled his personal best of 4.10m, but the other competitors performed well to push him to sixth place with 6462 points overall. With two events remaining, Tejaswin needed 1,204 points to go past the national record of 7666. He threw 52.89m in the Javelin Throw, earning 631 points, further bolstering his chances of breaking the national record. In the final event of 1500m, Tejaswin clocked another personal best with 4:31.80s earning 733 points and improving his previous national record by 160 points.. He shaved off two seconds from his previous personal best of 4:33.96s in the 1500m event. This is the second international competition for Tejaswin in Decathlon this season. Earlier in May, he won the silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships with 7618 points in Gumi, Korea. He started his season with 7603 points at the Federation Cup in Kochi, Kerala. With this finish, Tejaswin also took the Asian lead of the 2025 season going past 7639 points of Jiawei Wang of China. Day 1 Events: Day 2 Events: Total Points: 7826 points
