Tejaswin Shankar

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Tejaswin Shankar is an Indian track and field athlete and an accountant who specializes in high jump events. He is known for breaking Hari Shankar’s national record of 2.25 metres with a jump of 2.26 metres at the Junior National Championship in Coimbatore in November 2016. On 4 August 2022, Tejaswin won a bronze medal with the mark of 2.22m at Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham.Tejaswin is the first Indian to win a high jump medal at Commonwealth Games.During his childhood days, Tejaswin aspired to be a bowler. He used to watch videos of fast bowlers, Wasim Akram and Mohammad Amir, to practise their style of bowling. He was also a part of his school’s cricket team till the eighth standard. Tejaswin Shankar playing cricket.During his school days, Tejaswin’s physical education teacher, Sunil Kumar, advised him to try out the high jump pit. In an interview, his coach talked about how he spotted him and said, He was warming up with a group of boys and I noticed he ran with a natural bounce. Not everyone has this bounce. I asked him if he wants to give high jump a shot.” [5]The Indian Express Tejaswin Shankar training with his coach Sunil Kumar.In 2015, Tejaswin defeated junior national champion Jeo Jose at CBSE National Athletic Championship in Varanasi. In an interview, talking about his excitement after defeating a national champion, Tejaswin said, I cleared 1.84 metres and won the gold. I had beaten a national champion who was taller than me, who was more experienced and had a better personal best. This was when I realised I had it in me to be a high jumper,” [6]The Indian Express.Tejaswin’s father, Harishankar, who was a lawyer, was not in favour of his son’s interest in athletics. He wanted him to study law and take over the family firm. Harishankar believed that apart from all the sports, cricket was the sensible choice, and he wanted Tejaswin to take advantage of his height and pursue his career in cricket as a bowler.In 2016, Tejaswin broke the 12-year-old national senior high jump record in Junior National Championship, Coimbatore.In 2016, Tejaswin finished sixth at the 17th Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a leap of 2.07m.Tejaswin ranked third in the under-20 jumper category in the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) world list of 2016.In an interview, Tejaswin’s coach and talent scout Nallusamy Annavi talked about him and said, Shankar has the height but he also has strength and speed. There are many tall jumpers but height alone is not enough. You need to be strong — a kind of explosive power — and you need speed. And he has all these attributes. I have seen many jumpers over the years but nobody in recent memory has the special qualities Shankar has.” [7]The Indian Express.