Background
Tejaswin Shankar was born in Saket, New Delhi, on December 21, 1998, and came into athletics through cricket before his school PE teacher spotted his potential and moved him to high jump. He studied at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in New Delhi and Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. He now trains under Kip Janvrin with a group of decathletes at Kansas State University. Shankar transitioned from high jump to decathlon and holds India’s national decathlon record.
Breakthrough and records
His breakthrough came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, where he cleared 2.24m in the high jump — finishing sixth and confirming his arrival at senior international level. He also holds the national high-jump record of 2.29m, set at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2018. Shankar later moved into the decathlon and established another national record, scoring 8057 points at the Hypo-Meeting in Götzis in 2026.
Current Season
The 2026 season brought a major breakthrough in the decathlon, with 8,057 points at the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition in Ranchi — a national record. He also improved the national short-track heptathlon record to 5,993 points in Tianjin earlier in the year. After competing in the Commonwealth Games, he has continued preparing across the combined events. He is now set for the decathlon at the Asian Games in September.
In their own words
“We tried to get the knee healing. Anything and everything we could do, we did.” — Tejaswin Shankar, speaking to NNIS Sports, July 2026, about the injury that affected his Commonwealth Games decathlon campaign.
