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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)
Sport
SportAthletics
Events
Decathlon, Heptathlon, High jump
College teamKansas State Wildcats
Achievements and titles
Personal bestsDecathlon: 8057 NR (2026)
Heptathlon: 5993 NR (2026)
High jump: 2.29 m (2018)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  India
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place2022 HangzhouDecathlon
Bronze medal – third place2026 Aichi–NagoyaDecathlon
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place2025 GumiDecathlon
Bronze medal – third place2023 BangkokDecathlon
Asian Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 TianjinHeptathlon
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2022 BirminghamHigh jump
Bronze medal – third place2026 GlasgowDecathlon
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 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 champion in high jump in 2018 and 2022, making him one of the most successful Indian athletes in collegiate circuit.

Early life

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Shankar was born on 21 December 1998 in Saket in South Delhi. 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. His father Harishankar, a lawyer for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), died of blood cancer in 2014.[1][2]

Career

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Shankar made his international debut in high jump at the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, where he finished eighth with a jump of 2.07 m.[3] He won the gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, setting a Games record of 2.14 m.[4]

At the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati, he won the silver medal with a leap of 2.17 m.[5] At the 2016 Asian Indoor Championships in Doha, he failed to clear the opening height of 2 m and did not record a valid mark.[6] Due to a groin injury, he finished sixth at the 2016 Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City with a jump of 2.07 m, and missed the 2016 World U20 Championships.[7] At the age of 17, Shankar rose to prominence when he broke Hari Shankar Roy's 12-year-old national record of 2.25 m, with a jump of 2.26 m at the 2016 Junior National Championships in Coimbatore. He was the third best junior high jumper in the world that year.[8][9] He was bedridden for six months in 2017 with a slipped disc.[10]

Shankar broke Roy's indoor national record of 2.18 m, with a 2.28 m leap at the 2018 Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames.[11] He placed sixth at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, with a jump of 2.24 m.[12]

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

At the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok, he finished seventh in the high jump with a best effort of 2.10 m and won the bronze medal in the decathlon with 7527 points.[14][15] He placed sixth in the high jump at the World University Games in Chengdu, clearing 2.15 m.[16] Later that year, he won the silver medal in the decathlon at the Asian Games in Hangzhou with a score of 7666 points.[17]

Shankar won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 2025 Asian Championships held in Gumi with a score of 7618 points.[18]

At the 2026 Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin, Shankar won gold in the heptathlon with a national indoor record score of 5993 points.[19] At the 2026 National Federation Cup in Ranchi, he became the first Indian decathlete to breach the 8000-point barrier, winning the gold medal with a score of 8057 points.[20] At the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he withdrew from the high jump after his opening attempt due to a flared up patellar tendinitis. Despite the injury, he competed in the decathlon two days later and scored 7976 points to win the bronze medal, becoming the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the event.[21]

International competitions

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Representing  India
YearCompetitionHostPositionEventResult
2015 World Youth Championships Cali, Colombia 8th High jump 2.07 m
Commonwealth Youth Games Apia, Samoa 1st 2.14 m
2016 South Asian Games Guwahati, India 2nd 2.17 m
Asian Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar – NM
Asian Junior Championships Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 6th 2.07 m
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 6th 2.24 m
2022 Commonwealth Games Birmingham, England 3rd 2.22 m
2023 Asian Championships Bangkok, Thailand 3rd Decathlon 7527 points
7th High jump 2.10 m
World University Games Chengdu, China 6th 2.15 m
Asian Games Hangzhou, China 2nd Decathlon 7666 points
2025 Asian Championships Gumi, South Korea 2nd 7618 points
2026 Asian Indoor Championships Tianjin, China 1st Heptathlon 5993 points
Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland – High jump NM
3rd Decathlon 7976 points
Asian Games Nagoya, Japan 7934 points

NCAA Championships

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Representing the Kansas State Wildcats
YearCompetitionHostPositionEventResult
2018 NCAA Championships Eugene, U.S. 1st High jump 2.24 m
2019 NCAA Indoor Championships Birmingham, U.S. 9th 2.20 m
NCAA Championships Austin, U.S. 2nd 2.27 m
2021 NCAA Indoor Championships Fayetteville, U.S. 3rd 2.24 m
NCAA Championships Eugene, U.S. 2nd 2.23 m
2022 NCAA Indoor Championships Birmingham, U.S. 6th 2.20 m
NCAA Championships Eugene, U.S. 1st 2.27 m

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, India 22–23 May 2026 8057 points
100 metres 10.77 (+0.7 m/s) Ranchi, India 22 May 2026 912 points
Long jump 7.82m (+1.5 m/s) Glasgow, Scotland 30 July 2026 1015 points
Shot put 13.98 m (45 ft 10+1⁄4 in) San Angelo, U.S. 26 March 2026 727 points
High jump 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) Ranchi, India 22 May 2026 1041 points
400 metres 48.29 895 points
110 metres hurdles 14.23 (+0.2 m/s) 23 May 2026 945 points
Discus throw 40.44 m (132 ft 8 in) Glasgow, Scotland 31 July 2026 674 points
Pole vault 4.35 m (14 ft 3+1⁄4 in) San Angelo, U.S. 27 March 2026 716 points
Javelin throw 54.85 m (179 ft 11+1⁄4 in) Kochi, India 21 April 2025 661 points
1500 metres 4:29.02 Ranchi, India 23 May 2026 751 points
Virtual Best Performance 8337 points
Event Performance Location Date
High jump 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in) Lubbock, U.S. 27 April 2018

Indoor

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As of 01 August 2026
Event Performance Location Date Points
Heptathlon N/a Tianjin, China 7–8 February 2026 5993 points
60 metres 7.11 Tianjin, China 7 February 2026 844 points
Long jump 7.53 m (24 ft 8+1⁄4 in) 942 points
Shot put 13.63 m (44 ft 8+1⁄2 in) 706 points
High jump 2.25 m (7 ft 4+1⁄2 in) Manhattan, U.S. 29 January 2021 1041 points
60 metres hurdles 8.02 Tianjin, China 8 February 2026 977 points
Pole vault 4.20 m (13 ft 9+1⁄4 in) 673 points
1000 metres 2:41.22 Manhattan, U.S. 30 January 2021 860 points
Virtual Best Performance 6043 points
Event Performance Location Date
High jump 2.28 m (7 ft 5+3⁄4 in) Ames, U.S. 24 February 2018

Personal life

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Shankar received a four-year athletics scholarship to Kansas State University in 2017, where he pursued bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting.[2][22] He briefly worked at Deloitte in the U.S. before leaving the corporate sector to pursue athletics full-time.[23]

He married former Indian sprinter Siddhi Hiray in a private ceremony in 2024. The couple co-founded King's Sports Group, an initiative aimed at helping talented student-athletes to secure sports scholarships in the U.S. collegiate system.[24]

In 2026, Shankar returned to Kansas State University to pursue a master's degree in kinesiology. He made the transition to better prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in the U.S. His education is funded through his role as a graduate teaching assistant in the university's kinesiology department, where he teaches biomechanics and introduction to kinesiology.[25]

Awards

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References

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  1. ↑ "Cricket to high jump and decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar's record-setting leap of faith". Olympics. 27 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 "India At Commonwealth Games 2026: Know Your Athlete – Tejaswin Shankar". Outlook. 23 July 2026.
  3. ↑ "2015 World Youth Athletics Championships, Cali | Men's High jump". World Athletics. 18 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "C'wealth Youth Games: Lifter Deru, high jumper Shankar win gold". Rediff. 7 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Koshie, Nihal (25 December 2016). "Tejaswin Shankar is India's high jump hope". The Indian Express.
  6. ↑ "Mayookha wins gold in Asian Indoor Athletics". Sportstar. 20 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Pritam, Norris (13 November 2016). "Tejaswin Shankar's journey from budding cricketer to high jump national record holder". Firstpost.
  8. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar breaks senior national record". Deccan Chronicle. 11 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Rayan, Stan (2 March 2018). "Leap of faith". The Hindu.
  10. ↑ Srinivasan, Aneesh (18 July 2017). "Despite career-threatening injury, Tejaswin Shankar sets meet record". The New Indian Express.
  11. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar breaks national high jump record, grabs bronze at Big 12 indoor championships". Scroll. 25 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast | Men's High jump". 11 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Commonwealth Games 2022: Tejaswin Shankar wins high jump bronze after court battle for selection". India Today. 4 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "2023 Asian Athletics Championships, Bangkok | Men's High jump". World Athletics. 15 July 2023.
  15. ↑ Roy, Avishek (17 July 2023). "Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar chases improvements before Asian Games". Hindustan Times.
  16. ↑ "World University Games | Tejaswin Shankar sixth, Poorva enters women's triple jump final". The Hindu. 3 August 2023. ISSN 0971-751X.
  17. ↑ Vasudevan, Shyam (3 October 2023). "Asian Games: Tejaswin bags decathlon silver and meets his record-breaking target". ESPN.
  18. ↑ Roy, Avishek (28 May 2025). "Asian athletics: Mixed relay team wins gold, Tejaswin takes decathlon silver". Hindustan Times.
  19. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar clinches India's lone gold in Asian Indoor Athletics Championships". The Hindu. 9 February 2026. ISSN 0971-751X.
  20. ↑ Menon, Anirudh (26 May 2026). "Breaking 8000 barrier (and more): How Tejaswin Shankar became India's decathlon GOAT". ESPN.
  21. ↑ "Tejaswin Shankar Overcomes Knee Injury To Script Historic First For India In Athletics At CWG 2026". NDTV. 1 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "School of Health Sciences | People". Kansas State University.
  23. ↑ Sahni, Jaspreet (4 August 2022). "A job as an accountant & competing in decathlon at Asian Games - CWG 2022 bronze medallist high-jumper Tejaswin Shankar's next set of plans". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257.
  24. ↑ "Athlete-couple Siddhi Hiray and Tejaswin Shankar chart a course for India's NCAA aspirants". The Indian Express. 13 June 2025.
  25. ↑ Koshie, Nihal (17 January 2026). "Athlete, teaching assistant, student – Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar takes on three roles in bid to qualify for 2028 Olympics". The Indian Express.
  26. ↑ John, Alan Jose (18 August 2026). "No Khel Ratna, but Tejaswin Shankar among 17 athletes to win Arjuna Awards". India Today.
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