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Tejaswin Shankar

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Tejaswin Shankar
Shankar in 2022
Personal information
NicknameTJ
Born (1998-12-21) 21 December 1998 (age 27)
Saket, Delhi, India
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Events
Decathlon, High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal bestsDecathlon: 8057 NR (2026)
High jump: 2.29 m (2018)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  India
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2022 BirminghamHigh jump
Bronze medal – third place2026 GlasgowDecathlon
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place2022 HangzhouDecathlon
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place2025 GumiDecathlon
Bronze medal – third place2023 BangkokDecathlon
Asian Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 TianjinHeptathlon
South Asian Games
Silver medal – second place2016 GuwahatiHigh jump
Commonwealth Youth Games
Gold medal – first place2015 ApiaHigh jump

Tejaswin Shankar (born 21 December 1998) is an Indian decathlete. He is the first Indian to win Commonwealth Games medals in the high jump and decathlon, claiming bronze in 2022 and 2026, respectively. Shankar has also won silver medals in decathlon at the 2022 Asian Games and the 2025 Asian Championships. He was the NCAA Division I Champion in high jump in 2018 and 2022, making him one of the most successful Indian athletes in collegiate athletics.[2]

Early life

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Shankar was born on 21 December 1998 in Saket, New Delhi into a Tamil Brahmin family. He studied at the Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, where he played cricket until seventh grade before his physical education teacher suggested he switch to high jump. He soon started winning medals at inter-school athletics meets. His father Harishankar, a lawyer for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), died of blood cancer in 2014.[2][1]

Personal life

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Shankar received a four-year athletics scholarship to the Kansas State University in 2017 where he studied accounting and finance.[3] In what is considered an unconventional move for an active athlete, he briefly pursued a corporate career in the United States, working with Deloitte.[4] However, he eventually quit the corporate world to focus on being a "full-time athlete".

Shankar married former Indian sprinter Siddhi Hiray in a private ceremony in November 2024. In 2024, they co-founded King's Sports Group, an initiative aimed at helping talented Indian student-athletes to secure sports scholarships and opportunities in the U.S. collegiate system.[5]

Career

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Shankar won the gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, setting a Games record of 2.14 metres. He won silver at the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati with a leap of 2.17 metres.[1] Due to a groin injury, he finished sixth at the Asian Junior Championships and missed the 2016 World Junior Championships.[6]

At the age of 17, Shankar rose to prominence when he broke Hari Shankar Roy's 12-year-old national record of 2.25 metres with a jump of 2.26 metres at the Junior National Championships in Coimbatore in November 2016.[7] He was the third best IAAF junior high jumper in the world that year.[8] He was bedridden for six months in 2017 with a slipped disc.[9]

In January 2018, Shankar broke Roy's indoor national record with a mark of 2.18 metres, and then bettered it by a centimetre the same month. In February, he further improved on his indoor record with a 2.28 metres leap at the Big 12 Indoor Athletics Championships in Ames.[10]

Shankar finished sixth at the 2018 Commonwealth Games during qualification for the games Shankar bettered his own national record by jumping 2.28 metres at the 22nd Federation Cup Indian Championships in Patiala in March 2018. It was the joint-best performance to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.[11][12] He further broke his national record by another centimeter representing K-State athletics, jumping 2.29m in April 2018 at the Texas tech invite.

Shankar, who was not initially selected in the 2022 Commonwealth Games contingent despite meeting the qualification standard, took the Athletics Federation of India to court and was later brought in as a replacement. He secured the bronze medal at the event in Birmingham with a jump of 2.22 metres; this was India's first ever high jump medal at the Commonwealth Games.[13]

He switched to the decathlon and won a Bronze at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships in July. He then bettered the decathlon Indian National Record by 6 points in October 2023, to finish second at the 2022 Asian Games, earning a silver medal.

In February 2024, he won gold at the World Athletics indoor tour challenger, the high jump gala at Elmos 2024 in Belgium.[14]

In May 2025, Shankar won a silver medal in the decathlon event at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships held in Gumi, South Korea.

On July 27, 2025, Tejaswin broke his own Decathlon National Record at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial Meet in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He scored 7826 points, which placed him fourth in the Event's Points Table. His previous NR was 7666 points achieved at the 2022 Asian Games.

At the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition 2026 in Ranchi, Shankar became the first Indian decathlete to breach the 8,000-point barrier, finishing with a score of 8,057 points — surpassing his own previous national record of 7,826 points.[15][16]

At the 2026 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow, Scotland, Tejaswin was injured, leading him to skip his participation in the High Jump event. however, he did win Bronze in the Decathlon event..[17][18]

Personal bests

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Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

Outdoor

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As of 01 August 2026
Event Performance Location Date Points
Decathlon N/a Ranchi Jharkhand, India 22–25 May 2026 8057 points
100 metres 10.77 (NWI) Ranchi, Jharkhand, India 22 May 2026 912 points
Long jump 7.82m (NWI) Glasgow, Scotland 30 July 2026 1015 points
Shot put 13.79 m (45 ft 2+3⁄4 in) Gumi 27 May 2025 715 points
High jump 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) Ranchi Jharkhand, India 23 May 2026 1041 points
400 metres 48.29 Ranchi Jharkhand, India 23 May 2026 895 points
110 metres hurdles 14.23 (NWI) Ranchi Jharkhand, India 23 May 2026 945 points
Discus throw 40.44 m (132 ft 8 in) Glasgow, Scotland 31 July 2026 674 points
Pole vault 4.30 m (14 ft 1+1⁄4 in) Glasgow, Scotland 31 July 2026 702 points
Javelin throw 54.85 m (179 ft 11+1⁄4 in) Kochi 21 April 2025 665 points
1500 metres 4:29:02 Ranchi Jharkhand, India 23 May 2026 751 points
Virtual Best Performance 8262points
Event Performance Location Date
High jump 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in) Lubbock 27 April 2018
Triple jump 16.09 m (52 ft 9+1⁄4 in) Lubbock 27 February 2021

Indoor

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As of 24 June 2025
Event Performance Location Date Points
Heptathlon N/a Manhattan, Kansas 29–30 January 2021 5,650 points
60 metres 7.16 USA 26 January 2022 826 points
Long jump 7.40 m (24 ft 3+1⁄4 in) Manhattan, Kansas 21 January 2022 910 points
Shot put 11.90 m (39 ft 1⁄2 in) Manhattan, Kansas 29 January 2021 600 points
High jump 2.26 m (7 ft 4+3⁄4 in) Boston 4 February 2023 1,051 points
60 metres hurdles 8.05 Belgrade 23 February 2025 545 points
Pole vault 3.75 m (12 ft 3+1⁄2 in) Manhattan, Kansas 30 January 2021 549 points
1000 metres 2:41.22 Manhattan, Kansas 30 January 2021 860 points
Virtual Best Performance 5,765 points
Event Performance Location Date Points
Pentathlon N/a Manhattan, Kansas 5 December 2020 4,343 points[19]
60 metres hurdles 8.34 Manhattan, Kansas 5 December 2020 898 points
Long jump 7.48 m (24 ft 6+1⁄4 in) Manhattan, Kansas 5 December 2020 930 points
Shot put 12.73 m (41 ft 9 in) Manhattan, Kansas 10 December 2021 651 points
High jump 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in) Manhattan, Kansas 5 December 2020 1,031 points
1000 metres 2:39.35 Manhattan, Kansas 5 December 2020 881 points
Virtual Best Performance 4,391 points
Event Performance Location Date
High jump 2.28 m (7 ft 5+3⁄4 in) Ames, Iowa 24 February 2018

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Koshie, Nihal (25 December 2016). "Tejaswin Shankar is India's high jump hope". The Indian Express. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Cricket to high jump and decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar's record-setting leap of faith". Olympics. 27 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "Record breaker Delhi high jumper Tejaswin Shankar idolises Sehwag". Asianet India. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "'There's Much More to Life than Sport'". Open The Magazine. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Athlete-couple Siddhi Hiray and Tejaswin Shankar chart a course for India's NCAA aspirants". The Indian Express. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Pritam, Norris (13 November 2016). "Tejaswin Shankar's journey from budding cricketer to high jump national record holder". Firstpost. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar breaks senior national record". Deccan Chronicle. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Rayan, Stan (2 March 2018). "Leap of faith". The Hindu. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Srinivasan, Aneesh (18 July 2017). "Despite career-threatening injury, Tejaswin Shankar sets meet record". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  10. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar breaks national high jump record, grabs bronze at Big 12 indoor championships". scroll.in. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Result - Men's High Jump Final". Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  12. ↑ Selvaraj, Jonathan. "Tejaswin Shankar equals (own) national record to book Commonwealth berth". ESPN.in. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Commonwealth Games 2022: Tejaswin Shankar wins high jump bronze after court battle for selection". India Today. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "High jumper Tejaswin Shankar wins season-opening meet in Belgium". The Times of India. 12 February 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar Crosses 8000".
  16. ↑ "ESPN:Tejaswin Shankar Crosses 8000".
  17. ↑ "Recurrence of his Knee Injury Prevents Tejaswin from Participating in his Preferred High Jump Event".
  18. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar wins Bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games".
  19. ↑ "K-State Winter Invitational". tfrrs.org. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
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