Asian Games 2023: Tejaswin Shankar, high jumper-turn decathlete in hot pursuit of unique record

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A year and two months since a historic bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games amid a dramatic build-up, which included a court battle for inclusion in the Indian squad followed by a clearance five days before the event, high jumper Tejaswin Shankar will return to action at a big-ticket event, Asian Games 2023.

The stakes will remain high for Tejaswin Shankar, who has switched to decathlon since then and is laying strong claims for India's first decathlon medal since 1974 when Vijay Singh Chauhan (gold) and Suresh Babu (bronze) finished on the podium of the Games.

There's no stone left unturned in preparations for the Asian Games 2023 from the 24-year-old Delhiite, who has now emerged as the torch-bearer of the decathlon with his presence turning people's attention towards the challenging multi-sport discipline that includes 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m (Day 1), 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m (Day 2).

Tejaswin Shankar meant business early in the season when he missed out on Bhartinder Singh's 12-year-old national record of 7658 points by just 10 points in Tucson, USA back in April. The performance cleared him for the Asiad but wasn't enough as per the ongoing Athletics Federation of India's criteria, which urged the decathlete for a rescreening at the Inter-State Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in June.

Competing in adverse weather conditions, often in the scorching, sultry afternoon of the city, Tejaswin Shankar had a few hiccups on his way to the Asian Games qualification mark of 7500 points. In the end, it all came down to the final event in 1500m with the decathlete requiring 4:50.86 seconds at least to breach the qualification standard.

The entire of decathlon field united to help Tejaswin achieve the mark as Tejaswin finished fifth with a timing of 4:38.49 seconds to confirm his Hangzhou ticket as his point haul reached 7576 points. The result also paved his entry for the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 in Bangkok in July.

"(Ye medal sirf mera nahi, hum sabhi ka hai) The medal is not just mine but for all 18 of us," said Tejaswin Shankar back then after winning the medal. "They deserve a peace of this medal. I didn't know any of them before coming here but after competing through tough conditions over two days, we have developed a bond and that's what you saw in the final race."

While it's debatable if Inter-State helped Tejaswin be better prepared or left too exhausted for Bangkok, the decathlete scored 7526 points to claim his maiden major decathlon medal in a bronze.

Since then Tejaswin has kept himself away from any further decathlon competition except for the World University Games in Chengdou, where he only competed in high jump to finish sixth. However, it was at the Asian Championships, where he saw his Asian Games 2023 rivals up close.

Among top contenders, Asian Champion Yuma Marayuma is ranked first in the continent and was the sole Asian competing at the World Athletics Championships 2023, where the Japanese performed his personal best of 7844 points. Former Asian Champion Suttisak Singkhon is also in the run for the gold after finishing runner-up in front of home fans in Bangkok.

Tejaswin has his own area of concern as the athlete admitted in the past that he is someone who picks points in Day 1 events but struggles to keep up on Day 2. Lateral jumps and running are his favourable events with the high jump giving him the advantage to pull up a gap as the Indian can touch 1000 points with a leap of 2.21m.

However, such is the demand of the gruelling multi-discipline event, expecting Tejaswin to go near his personal best of 2.29m is too far-fetched.

"While competing in high jump alone, my focus is just on clearing the bar but decathlon is a different ball game all together," said Tejaswin Shankar. "It's physically demanding as you are competing in 10 events in two days. There's a strategy and recovery plan for every event you participate in, focussing on high jump alone and I will be out of steam for the rest of the nine events."

He is likely to dominate the 100m and 400m events on the opening day with the ability to go past sub-11 and sub-49 seconds respectively. However, Maruyama and Singkhon are not too far behind their Indian rival in these events. They are likely to reduce any early gaps in the shot put and later in javelin throw, pole vault, and discus throw unless Tejaswin Shankar figures out a strategy to reduce the gap from their rivals in these field events.

Among all the chase, it's quite clear that Tejaswin Shankar will have to break his national record at least if he wishes to win the gold medal. Going past the NR may not confirm the gold but will establish Tejaswin Shankar as one of those rare Indian athletes, who have dominated two different disciplines in track and field in the country.

Will Tejaswin Shankar compete in high jump at Asian Games

However, the question that lingers in the mind of many of the fans that will the high jump national record holder stay away from his forte event at the Asian Games 2023? The answer could be anybody's guess as Tejaswin participated in the high jump at the Asian Championships despite being named in the selection list as a decathlete.

A lot could depend on how decathlon and high jump events are lined up in Hangzhou while it remains to be seen if he could be considered a medal prospect in the event. With his focus on decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar's performance alone in the high jump has dropped by several notches with his outdoor season best being a 2.21m following a 2.26m indoors leap back in February.