| Sixteen athletes represented India in Tianjin over three days at the Asian Indoors, but it was Tejaswin Shankar who ensured the Indian National Anthem echoed on Chinese soil on the final day of the championships.
Competing in seven events over two gruelling days is never easy.
Tejaswin not only entered combined events but achieved remarkable success—breaking national records multiple times and winning silver at the Asian Games 2023, along with bronze and silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in 2023 and 2025, respectively.
At the Asian Indoors, Tejaswin won gold on the final day with a lifetime-best score of 5,993 points—a new national record. He bettered his previous mark of 5,650 by a massive 343 points.
However, after the competition, Tejaswin tweeted:
“Never won a gold at a major championship before… always dreamt about it… thought it makes you happy…
Set a championship record…
But I’m the saddest person today…
2 days of labour and 7 points short…
Sports is cruel.”
Speaking exclusively to NNIS Sports from the airport while waiting for his flight, Tejaswin said:
“I wasn’t worried about breaking the national record. My goal was to break the 6,000-point barrier because that’s like an entry point into being truly world-class. That was really on my mind.”
“After the pole vault, all the targets I had set for myself—I either met them or did better. So, I knew I was on track for 6,000. In my worst races, I can run 2:41 in the 1,000m.”
“The only place where I missed was between 600m and 800m. In the fourth lap, I slowed down a bit. I let the Japanese athlete Yuma pass me and thought I’d feed off his pace. That was my biggest mistake. That small error of 5–10 seconds shattered my 6,000-point plan. In the end, I was seven points short.”
TEJASWIN SHANKAR’S EVENT-WISE BREAKDOWN
60m – 7.11s (PB) | 844 pts
Long Jump – 7.53m | 942 pts
Shot Put – 13.63m | 706 pts
High Jump – 2.23m | 1021 pts
60m H – 8.02s (PB) | 977 pts
Pole Vault – 4.20m (PB) | 673 pts
1000m – 2:43.91 | 830 pts
A CRUCIAL YEAR AHEAD
This is a very important year for Tejaswin. With the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games scheduled just a month apart, the workload will be intense. He is the bronze medallist in high jump at the last Commonwealth Games and the silver medallist in decathlon at the last Asian Games.
Competing in the decathlon at two major championships and attending qualification trials means he may have to compete up to four times in almost four months.
ON MANAGING THIS SCHEDULE, TEJASWIN EXPLAINED:
“Physically, there’s only so much you can do. If you’re doing 10 events at a high level and aiming for 8,000 points, you need to hit that mark twice and once around 7,700. You have to be very strategic.”
“You can do one event 20–23 times a week, but doing 10 events repeatedly and perfectly is extremely hard. It’s almost impossible. So it’s crucial to decide which competitions to do and which to avoid. But you can’t skip the Commonwealth Games or Asian Games.”
He added:
“For the Commonwealth Games, I need to compete at the Federation Cup. For the Asian Games, the Inter-State meet is mandatory. I’ll also compete once in April before the Federation Cup, most probably in the USA, where I’m currently training.”
“That will help me understand where I stand and what small changes I need before the Federation Cup. Just imagine doing five decathlons while chasing 8,000 points—that’s too much for the body.”
“So, there are two options: either I plan strategically, or I consult the federation so we can reach a proper conclusion.” |
