Tejaswin Shankar makes history with decathlon bronze at Commonwealth Games

A week after walking away from the high jump arena in tears, Tejaswin Shankar returned to the same stadium to create history. Battling a long-standing knee injury, the national record holder became the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the decathlon, claiming bronze in Glasgow on Friday. Tejaswin finished with 7,976 points in the demanding 10-event competition held over two days. He competed despite dealing with chronic patellar tendinitis (jumper's knee), the same injury that had forced him to pull out of the men's high jump event earlier in the Games. Four days ago, the 27-year-old had cut a lonely figure after withdrawing from the high jump following his opening attempt. A flare-up of his knee injury left him heartbroken as he walked away from the event in which he had won bronze at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. On Friday, he returned to the same venue wearing a bronze medal around his neck. "Guys, I won't cry today," he quipped as he walked into the mixed zone after becoming the first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games medal in the decathlon. It was his second Commonwealth Games medal after the high jump bronze in Birmingham. His national record in the decathlon stands at 8,057 points. The injury had left him fearing the worst. "If I was alone, I would have probably given up," Tejaswin was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "When I was standing there crying, those were tears of giving up. I was thinking one year is gone, the Commonwealth Games are gone, maybe the Asian Games are gone too. I went down a very negative spiral."

Just four days later, he was celebrating a historic medal. "I have seen in two days how emotions can change. Today I am standing with a medal around my neck. I have no words. It's just unreal." Winning medals in two different disciplines at successive Commonwealth Games made the achievement even more special for him. "That makes it even more special," he said. "I had a bronze in high jump in the previous edition and now one in the decathlon. I don't know how many people have been able to do that." Tejaswin said his desire to compete in both events came from pushing his own limits. "Yeh dil mange more..I just want more," he said. "High jump is good, but when you can do more, why shouldn't you? I believe when you can push yourself, why mustn't you?"