It is 2019 all over again for India’s No.1 high jumper Tejaswin Shankar as the 23-year-old was snubbed for the 2022 Commonwealth Games by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Tejaswin Shankar achieved the CWG qualification mark with a 2.27m jump at the USA’s prestigious NCAA Track and Field Championship in Eugene last Friday (10 June). AFP
It is 2019 all over again for India’s No. 1 high jumper Tejaswin Shankar who was snubbed for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) despite achieving the qualification standard, as he did for the 2019 Asian Championships.
The 23-year-old national record holder (2.29m) breached the qualification mark of 2.25m with a 2.27m jump at an event in the USA last week. However, his jump wasn’t recognised by AFI, who also added that Tejaswin didn’t take the necessary steps to make himself available for the selection. Before we dive deeper into the matter, let’s start with the credentials of Tejaswin Shankar to understand if he is worth it.
Who is Tejaswin Shankar?
Born and brought up in New Delhi, Tejaswin Shankar rose to prominence in 2016 when he broke the long-standing national record of 2.25m with a jump of 2.26m at the age of 17. A long-time friend and former roommate of Neeraj Chopra, Tejaswin, fondly called TJ by his friends, has been the No. 1 high jumper since then as he improved on his national record to 2.28m at the 2018 Federation Cup to qualify for that year’s Commonwealth Games, where he finished sixth with a 2.24 leap.
2018 was also the year when he moved to the USA to pursue business administration at Kansas State University on a full scholarship and has been an active participant in USA’s collegiate meet ever since. During the period, he also won two collegiate titles; matching former Indian tennis star Somdev Devvarman’s feat. The year also saw him rewrite his national record with a 2.29m jump at the Lubbock Crofoot Shootout in Texas.
However, a neck injury soon after cost him the chance to represent India at the 2018 Asian Games. Moving to the USA also started all the unwanted confusion with AFI as the dates of collegiate meets and exams often clashed with AFI’s recognised qualification meet. This eventually led to the 2019 Asian Championship snub despite matching his national record again in weeks leading to its selection.
2019 Asian Championship snub despite national record jump
Tejaswin’s 2.28m jump at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames (NCAA recognised event), where his jump was also recorded on the camera, made him eligibe for qualification (standard was 2.25m) but failed to please the federation, who was uncertain of the quality of the university-level meet and gave him the option to qualify for the major Asian event through domestic championships. The body also claimed the lateral jumper was not cut out for a medal despite his efforts back then put him in medal contention for the Asiad.
Post-2019: Tejaswin turns multi-discipline athlete and breaks decathlon record
2019 onwards, Tejaswin also tried his hands on multiple track and field outdoor and indoor events such as 1000 metre run, 110m hurdle, 4x400m relay, 400m run, 60m hurdle, long jump, and shot put with an objective to break the heptathlon national record. He broke the record in 2021, off his first attempt, with an effort of 5,650 points; taking over PJ Vinod’s tally of 5,561 points. The athlete also competed in the decathlon earlier this year.
History repeats itself with 2022 CWG snub
Tejaswin made strong claims for CWG with a 2.27m jump on 10 June at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championship with a gold medal ahead of the AFI selection. However, the federation decided not to pick the athlete as AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said Tejaswin never asked for his selection or for an exemption from the recently-concluded Inter-State Championship, which was deemed as the last event for CWG qualification.
“It was clearly mentioned on the website this (Inter States) was the last event where one could try to register the qualification standard for the CWG and Worlds. Tejaswin did not want to be selected. Mr Shankar did not ask to be exempted from the Inter-State Championships. He did not take permission from us before he competed in the USA,” said Sumariwalla.
Only Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, discus thrower Seema Punia and 300m steeplechase national record holder Avinash Sable were granted exemption from the event as they have been training at AFI’s recognised national camps with foreign coaches abroad.
In an interview to Sportstar hours after, Tejaswin didn’t address if he ever asked for an exemption but did say he was competing at the recent university events with CWG qualification in mind.
“It isn’t that the CWG wasn’t in the back of my head. It was in the front of my head. Last time (in 2018) I came sixth. This time I wanted to do better. When I saw that the (qualification) standard was set at 2.27m, my only real goal was to match it. And once that happened I was satisfied because I’d done what I could. The rest is not in my hands so why should I worry,” he said.
Tejaswin still hopeful of CWG qualification
Tejaswin is still hopeful that AFI will give him another chance of qualification as he has written to the federation to take his trial in California, where AFI is likely to hold a camp ahead of the World Championships.
“I am extremely hopeful that the federation gives me one opportunity. I have already achieved the mark but I am ready to jump in front of them. The reason I was able to achieve the qualification mark in the first place was that I took part against a top field here. Even though I was participating here in the US my heart was just thinking about the CWG qualification,” Tejaswin told The Indian Express.