Hangzhou: Tejaswin Shankar is talkative, witty, sometimes funny, and he was all that after establishing himself as the premier decathlete of the country with a silver medal to go with the national record at the Asian Games here.
Just a year into taking up the gruelling discipline, Delhi boy Tejaswin clinched a silver medal in the 10-event competition with a national record of 7666 points on Tuesday.
It was India's first decathlon medal since 1974. Vijay Singh Chauhan was the last Indian to win a decathlon medal in the Asian Games in 1974, while the earlier national record belonged to Bharatinder Singh (7,658 points) in 2011.
The 24-year-old Tejaswin began his athletics career with high jump, an event in which he still is the national record holder (2.29m). He won a high jump bronze in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
While studying at the Kansas State University in the US, he started competing in combined events on a wager with his college team-mate. He was also encouraged by his university coach to try out events other than high jump.
After winning his first Asian Games medal in an event in which he had competed only four times in the past, Tejaswin was all pumped up. "I am very happy with my score, any day is a different tale. But I won't at least expect you to ask me when I will reach 8000 aggregate points, it is fine if that (kind of question) remains to Neeraj Chopra (on when will he reach 90m) only," Tejaswin said amid peals of laughter.
He was referring to persistent questions being posed for the last few years to Olympic javelin throw champion Chopra on when he will breach the 90m mark. "I have been throwing just above 50m in javelin -- one of his weak events -- in my last three events (46.84m, 52.32 and 52.70 before his 51.17m on Tuesday)," said Tejaswin with a laugh, highlighting the gap between him and the reigning world champion in javelin.
Tejaswin's first decathlon competition was the Big 12 Conference Championships at Lubbock, USA in May last year where he accumulated 7592 points. In April this year, he aggregated 7648 points at the Jim Click Shootout meet in Arizona, USA. He won a gold in the National Inter-State Championships in June with 7576 points and finished third in the Asian Championships in July with 7527 points, before his silver in the Asian Games here.
"I was expecting a little bit more but (satisfied) considering my physicality. I was struggling right after the shot put (third of the 10 events), I had a cramp. After that it was about managing myself and ensuring that I finish the decathlon and win a medal rather than worrying about the total score. Still, I am happy that I made a national record," Tejaswin said.
"I was having lots of cramps all over my body and I did not want to aggravate the cramps and end up not finishing the decathlon. That could be a case of so near yet so far. I have to finish all the events. These are the decisions I have to make on the fly. You have to make those changes."
The Delhi boy had earlier spoken about the lack of knowledge and interest about decathlon in the country, often playing the role of an advocate for the discipline.
"If I am bragging about this and that (about decathlon), I at least need to have the national record. If that is done, my satisfaction is complete. Without the national record all these talks (about decathlon) are worthless. Now I can do all these," he said, amid another round of laughter.
"Medal is just the result. The most important feeling is representing the country, wearing the jersey. "Being shown on the television for two days, what could be better than that. That's the dream I have been dreaming since childhood and I can't be happier than that."
Asked if he will be a full-time decathlete from now onwards, Tejaswin said, "I now have won a medal in decathlon, so I want to get back to high jump, make myself a little bit leaner and focus for the Paris Olympics. "I started with high jump and if I get the seal of becoming an Olympian, I will be content and then I can go on to shift to full-time decathlon."
On the need to remain mentally strong in a physically demanding event like decathlon, he said, "Something, some crisis will always happen during the 10 events. You can't do your best in all the 10 events. It could be weather, it could be cramps, there are so many variables. "The challenge is not just competing in the event but also navigating all these variables successfully. That is the whole mind game about decathlon, and to be able to do that successfully is very satisfying."
