CWG 2022: Tejaswin Shankar clinches historic bronze in Birmingham

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Tejaswin Shankar clinched bronze in the men’s high jump final, to hand India the first track & field medal in Birmingham on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Shankar, who had a best jump of 2.22m, took India’s medal tally to 18 in the ongoing Birmingham Commonwealth Games. It was a historic outing for Tejaswin, who became the first Indian athlete to win a medal in high jump in the Commonwealth Games.

While the Indian athlete took bronze, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr took gold with a best jump of 2.25m, while Australia’s Brandon Starc took silver with a best of of 2.25m.

National record-holder Shankar, started off with a successful jump of 2.10m. The Indian athlete then went on to clear 2.15 and 2.19 on his second and third attempt. On his fourth attempt Shankar cleared 2.22m. The Indian athlete eyed the big prize as he went for 2.25m, but failed twice. On his final attempt, Shankar looked to clear 2.28m, but ended with a best of 2.22m.

It was a historic outing for the 23-year-old, who was added to the squad last-minute on orders of the Delhi High Court. The Indian athletes season’s best is 2.27m, with a personal best of 2.29m

Shankar’s bronze-winning effort saw the track and field athletes open their medal tally in Birmingham. India ended the day with five medals, which took their tally to eighteen.