Tejaswin Shankar creates PB, qualifies for Asian Games 2022 in Decathlon

The athlete switched to the multi-track and field event last season.

Tejaswin Shankar finished second but fell short of breaking the national record by ten points in Decathlon at the 2023 Jim Click athletic shootout. The national record holder in the long jump scored 7648 points across ten events and breached the Asian Games qualifying mark as well (7500 points) set by the Athletic Federation of India (AFI). Bharatinder Singh holds the national record in the decathlon created a decade back with 7658 points.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist showed good improvement from his maiden decathlon event where he scored 7592 points (an improvement of 56 points and a new personal best mark as well).

Points split up into ten events at the 2023 Jim Click Athletic event

Day 1

1. 100m dash - 10.81 sec (903 points)

2. Long Jump - 7.62m (965 points)

3. Shot Put - 13.34m (688 points)

4. High Jump - 2.19m (982 points)

5. 400m - 48.41m (889 points) (Personal Best)

Day 2

6. 110m hurdles - 14.63 sec (895 points)

7. Discuss throw - 35.34m (570 points)

8. Pole Vault - 3.60m (509 points)

9. Javelin Throw - 46.84m (542 points)

10. 1500m - 04:36:10 mins (705 points)

Tejaswin created personal best marks in 400m, Javelin Throw, and 1500m. Discuss throw, Pole Vault, and Javelin Throw have been Shankar’s weakest events in decathlon.

Performances in 2023

The national record holder had a great start to the 2023 season by jumping 2.26m in High Jump at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix event in Boston. At the Emporia State Relays held last month (March) Tejaswin clocked 47.7 seconds in 400m and 14.46 seconds in 110m hurdles.

Performance in his first Decathlon last year

Tejaswin Shankar secured 7592 points in his maiden decathlon event at the Big 12 Conference Championships, Terry & Linda Fuller T&F Complex. He achieved a decent score and was close to breaking the national record.