Hangzhou Asian Games | Tejaswin shatters decathlon national record to win silver

Tejaswin Shankar poses with the silver medal during the presentation ceremony of the men’s decathlon at the Hangzhou Asian Games, on October 3, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Ten events over two days in competitive sports sounds fanciful unless one is talking about decathlon, perhaps the most difficult of athletic events. On October 3, Tejaswin Shankar broke the 12-year old national record in decathlon en route to winning silver at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, becoming the only Indian to hold national records in two different field events.

Also the national record holder in High Jump, the 24-year old fought cramps, dehydration and exhaustion on a humid night to finish with 7666 points to cross Bhartinder Singh’s 7658 points set in 2011. It had been a tussle between China’s gold-medalist Qihao Sun (7816 points) and Tejaswin from the beginning as the two kept exchanging the top spot. While Tejaswin had led after the first two events — 100m and long jump — on October 2, he slipped after shot put only to regain lead at the end of the day with brilliant outings in high jump and 400m.

But on October 3 had his weak areas scheduled and with a massive 5m jump in pole vault and 64.41m throw in javelin, Sun went back to the top, where he stayed till the end. Yuma Maruyama of Japan finished third with 7568 points. “I was expecting a little bit more but considering my physicality today and how I was struggling with a hamstring cramp right after shot put, I am very happy with my score. The goal was to break the national record which I was able to do so can’t expect anything else,” he said after his final event – the 1500m, where he finished 4th.

“After the cramp it was all about finishing the decathlon rather than worrying about the score. Kudos to the Chinese for an amazing PV and JT, after that it was virtually impossible to beat him so the goal was to secure the silver. In the 1500m, it was about pacing myself and also didn’t want to aggravate the cramping and end up not finishing the competition,” he admitted.

Praveen Chithravel managed bronze with a best mark of 16.68m in his very first attempt in the triple jump, six centimetres ahead of compatriot Abdulla Aboobacker in 4th and behind the Chinese duo of Yaming Zhu — the only jumper to cross 17m — and Yaoqing Fang (16.93m). The 800m saw Mohd. Afsal taking silver in 1:48.43 while Krishan Kumar was disqualified for obstruction.