World Athletics Championships 2025: Meet Tejas Shirse - The Hurdler Who Refused To Quit

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World Athletics Championships 2025: For years, fate seemed to conspire against Tejas Shirse. Every time the national record holder in the 110m hurdles got close to the big stage, something went wrong, an untimely injury, a cruel twist of luck, or heartbreakingly narrow margins that kept him from qualifying.

Tejas missed out on the Asian Championships 2023, the Asian Games 2023, the World Championships 2023, the Paris Olympics 2024, and even the Asian Championships 2025. Only he knows the pain of being so close yet not making it. And this year, when he missed the Asian Championships mark by just 0.06 seconds, it felt like another dream slipping away.

But the 23-year-old Tejas refused to give up. A few days ago, he blazed to gold at the Inter State Athletics Championships, clocking 13.60s. It wasn't quite his personal best of 13.41s, and it didn't seem enough to break into the top-40 of the 'Road to Tokyo' rankings. The World Championships still looked like a distant dream.

Then came a twist worthy of a movie script. Cyprus' Milan Trajkovic (ranked 34th) withdrew from Worlds due to injury. Soon after, Australia's Tayleb Willis (ranked 40th) announced the end of his season. Those withdrawals opened the tiniest of windows and Tejas Shirse sprinted through it.

He squeezed into the top-40 and officially qualified for the World Championships in Tokyo becoming only the second Indian male hurdler ever to do so, after Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017. Even then, the hurdles didn't stop. Visa issues threatened to derail his journey yet again. But this time, everything finally fell into place.

Today, Tejas stands in Tokyo, ready to make his senior major international debut. His story is a testament to resilience proof that no matter how many setbacks come your way, perseverance can turn pain into podiums.
Tejas Shirse's greatest victory might already be here simply refusing to stop running.