Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar chases improvements before Asian Games

Before the start of the season, Tejaswin Shankar took the bold step of switching from high jump to decathlon in his attempt to qualify for the Asian Games. Having won the high jump bronze at last year’s Commonwealth Games, sticking to his pet event would have been an easier way out. But Tejaswin wanted to test himself in the gruelling discipline.

The results in the last two competitions show he is on the right track. At the inter-state championships in Bhubaneswar last month, Tejaswin won gold logging 7576 points in searing heat to qualify for the September-October Hangzhou Games. Within a month, he was again on the podium at the Bangkok Asian Championships, winning bronze (7527).

Come the Asian Games, there is no reason why Tejaswin can’t hope to finish with a medal. He is currently fourth in Asia in decathlon (7648 points achieved in an event in US) with China's Sun Qihao (7852) the season’s leader.

“Starting this year, I have seen improvements in each event. Discus, pole vault and javelin were my weakest events. At the inter-state competition, I saw an improvement in javelin and pole vault and at the Asian Championships I improved in discus. So, it’s all coming together,” said Tejaswin.

“It’s just a matter of putting all those pieces together during the competition. It comes with time and practice. At the Asian Games I am hoping to put that all that together and score higher. With a couple of months left, it will give me time to recover and return fresh.”

The fact that Tejaswin has come close this season to break the long-standing national record (Bharatinder Singh, 7658 points in 2011) shows how fast he has progressed. He says the record is on the back of his mind at every event. His national high jump record is 2.29m.

“It will happen when it has to happen. I am just trying to go through each event and get as much experience because I am still new to the event – only a year old. My competitors are doing it for so many years. Managing 10 events, knowing your strengths it all takes time.”

For Tejaswin, things are falling into place. In his weakest events, he did well at the last two competitions.

“Doing inter-state was helpful because I was able to see where I went wrong. I realised that even though I didn't do well in my stronger events (jumps), I was able to pick points in my weaker events (throws). To do good in javelin, pole vault and discus, was a big relief."

Decathlon competition, spread over two days, comprises 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m on Day 1 and 110m hurdles, discus, pole-vault, javelin and 1,500m on the second day.

In Bhubaneswar, he had a personal best in javelin throw of 52.32m. He improved it to 52.70m in Bangkok. In discus, he went from 35.96m to 38.14m. In pole vault, the most technical of events, he cleared 4m at inter-state. In high jump though, he cleared only 2.14m in Bangkok after going over 2.20m in Bhubaneswar.

“Before the Asian Games, if I can go 4.10, 4.20m in pole vault, I will not lose a lot of points there. Shot put is one event where I declined drastically compared to inter-stare (13.04m to 12.39m). I have to keep that range in 13-14m. In discus, 38-40m is going to give me good points. I am well aware that high jump is my bread and butter and If I can rack up 2.20-2.22m in competition, I need not worry much.”

“I feel I am becoming a well-rounded decathlete. I am thinking like a decathlete. It's a smooth transition.”

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