'You're not going to break anything; you're just going to be in severe pain'
Before the 2026 Commonwealth Games began, Tejaswin Shankar had an audacious plan: compete in both the high jump and the decathlon. At this point you may think he's a little out of his mind, but that's when you need to remember this is an athlete that had won India's first ever medal in the high jump at a CWG in 2022 and was now going for India's first ever medal in the decathlon at a CWG -- both events usually contested by some of the world's very best.
AUGUST 1: FULL SCHEDULE | INDIA'S CWG 2026 MEDAL TALLY | INDIA AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES | KEY DATES AT CWG 2026
'A little out of his mind', then is a permanent state of being for him, in the most positive way: this is a man who looks at a mountain he's been told can't be scaled and immediately decides that's exactly what he's going to do.
So, he qualified for both, and entered his name in both, but when the high jump competition came around, though, his body had other plans. He tweaked the patellar tendon in his jumping knee and was forced to pull out after attempt one jump... but he didn't leave the field of play immediately.
On a bitingly cold evening in Glasgow, with the pain gnawing at his knee, he sat through the whole event, coaching and encouraging Sarvesh Kushare as the man who broke his old high jump national record a month or so back went and one-upped his historic Birmingham bronze.
He had to do it because the Athletics Federation of India had not sent along a high jump coach (despite three Indians taking part in the men's event), and Tejaswin knows a thing or two about administrative hurdles. In Birmingham, he'd leaned on S. Murali, father-coach of his great friend and long jump superstar Sreeshankar, during his event, having reached that CWG at the last minute after a court battle with the federation. But more than the necessity of it all, it was another example of the kind of man he is -- he wasn't ever going to let Sarvesh compete on his own, no matter what.
������������������, ������ �������������� ��������...���� �������������� �������� ��������-�������� ����������. ��
Tejaswin Shankar has gone nowhere is right beside Sarvesh Kushare as the latter continues his chase for glory at Glasgow 2026.
Watch the Indian High Jump ace in... pic.twitter.com/8coCaqKQ3i
- Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) July 27, 2026
That night the pain in his knee mounted, though, and the fear that he couldn't compete in the decathlon, now his priority event, grew. When he spoke to the doctors, they would tell him, "You're not going to break anything [if you compete the decathlon], you're just going to be in severe pain."
It's all he needed to hear. If he wasn't going to break his body doing it, he was going to try and push it -- and the pain barrier -- to its very limit. Once again, the Murali family came to his side, this time the son, who had recovered from a patellar tendon tear and a year off to defend his CWG silver in Glasgow. 'Just take it one event at a time. All you should do is just show up, warm up for the 100m and if it goes well great,' Sreeshankar told Tejaswin.
So, he did.
Two days and ten events of taking it 'one-at-a-time' later... he stood on the podium with bronze around his neck. India's first ever CWG high jump medalist was now India's first ever CWG decathlon medalist.
'Yeh Dil Maange More'
Last time out in Birmingham, moments after he'd won that high jump bronze, Tejaswin had told ESPN that he was going to join Deloitte as an accountant, and work at becoming a proper decathlete. And that he was going to break the national record and compete in the decathlon for India in the 2023 Asian Games. "That's the plan," he'd said with a laugh. "9-5 accountant, 5-9 decathlete."
Over the next four years, he'd leave Deloitte to focus full time on the Decathlon (a man who does nothing by half-measures was never going to 5-9 decathlon), break the national record multiple times (becoming the first Indian to ever cross 8000 points in the process), win Asian Games silver... and stand on the decathlon podium at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
It didn't come easy, of course it didn't. Nothing comes easy in what's arguably the toughest event in world sport.
His plan, he told the press after event, was to start fast in the 100m but that ended in a whimper as he ran 10.96s (well short of his PB of 10.59s) and placed seventh in the standings. It was looking tough, the knee was troubling him and competing with him were multiple Olympic and World Championships medalists in Damian Warner and Lindon Victor.
Everything about the competition was imposing... but he had to try, because he always has to try. After all he'd taken up decathlon because he had to try it, because creating history in the high jump wasn't enough, because "yeh dil maange more" [the heart wants more].
In the next event, the long jump, the ultimate test for whether his creaking knee could take it or not, he went out and jumped a personal best. 7.82m, and he was right back in contention, the 1015 points propelling him up to third. It also told Tejaswin that his knee would hold.
But his body was still battling him -- a 13.09m (673 points) in the shot put followed (nearly a metre below his PB), and he went down to fifth as he tried to shake off the exhaustion that was already besetting him.
Then came his pet event, the high jump, where despite jumping well short of his best (2.15m) because of that irksome knee, the 944 points gained saw him climb back to second. A decent 400m (49.51s, 837 points) meant he closed day 1 in second.
At night the pain came hurtling back, the medical team worked on him, sleep deserted him... but on Friday morning he was back for more. He had to be. The decathlon is a unique event in that, as much as it's about beating everyone else, it's more so about beating yourself. Points are awarded for times made, distance covered, heights cleared and not for finishing first or second in the events. It's also what makes it so very hard: you have to go out there and beat yourself over and over again.
He started his traditionally weaker day with a 14.41s 110m hurdles burst (922 points, still second) before unlocking something within himself to come up with a personal best in the discus, 40.44m (674 points) to keep hold of that second place. It slid when he could only jump 4.30m (702 points) in the pole vault, but a sensational javelin (PB again, 55.54m for 635 points) brought him right back into medal contention. As each event rolled down, the former accountant sat with his coaching staff to crunch the numbers... and as he entered the 1500m, he knew a good run would see him end up on the podium.
Easier said than done, though. Speaking to ESPN after breaking the 8k barrier in February, Tejaswin had said "after the 9 events, the 15 (1500m) really becomes more of a psychological beast than a physiological [one]."
"The problem is not running," he had said "the problem is after that second lap [a lap is 400m], when the cumulative fatigue hits you of all the 10 events and there's so many things that go on in your head."
With the weight of history on his mind, the innumerable calculations running through the logical part of his brain ("I wanted to hit the 1200m mark in 3:36/3:38") the knee throbbing in pain, he ran the 1500m in 4:36.19 to get 704 points and take his total to 7976 -- 83 points more than fourth placed Sammy Ball of England, and just 60 points off former Olympic champion Warner in second.
"I'm happy [with the bronze medal," he said after the event. "But I was enjoying the challenge [of chasing said medal] more... I was thriving on that energy. I like it when I'm in a position where I can chase something, but it's not guaranteed. I think I'm an adrenaline junkie, if you will"
So, he'll be back for more in six weeks' time, chasing that in-competition high, trying to convert Asiad silver into Asiad gold, going out there to try and beat himself yet again. It's just what Tejaswin Shankar does... and it's what makes him one of Indian sports' all-time great pioneers.
