NEW DELHI: Tejaswin Shankar’s own Commonwealth Games campaign ended in heartbreak, but the Indian high jumper ensured his disappointment did not stop a teammate from making history.The national record holder, forced out of the men’s high jump competition by a recurring knee injury, stayed back at the venue to guide compatriot Sarvesh Kushare from the sidelines. The advice proved decisive as Kushare overcame a shaky start to clinch the silver medal — India’s best-ever result in the event at the Commonwealth Games.Tejaswin had won a historic bronze at the 2022 Birmingham Games, the country’s first medal in Commonwealth Games high jump. On Monday, however, the 27-year-old’s title hopes were dashed before they had truly begun.
From medal contender to coach on the sidelines
Tejaswin experienced a sharp pain in his knee during the warm-up and was unable to continue after clearing only his opening height.Instead of leaving the arena, he remained beside the competition area, closely watching Kushare’s attempts and offering technical inputs that helped the Indian recover after struggling midway through the event.Kushare revealed that Tejaswin’s timely advice transformed his competition.“I wanted to clear the height in my first attempt itself, but during 2.25m my rhythm was affected and my stride became shorter. Then TJ told me to move forward in my run-up, and that helped,” Kushare said after winning silver.The medal improved on Tejaswin’s bronze-winning effort from Birmingham and marked India’s finest-ever Commonwealth Games finish in men’s high jump.
‘It really stings’
A visibly emotional Tejaswin admitted the injury struck at the worst possible moment.“I felt a shooting pain in my knee. It happened during my warm-up. It’s nothing new; I have always had tendonitis in my knees,” he said. “I don’t think there is any high jumper who doesn’t have it. That’s why it’s called jumper’s knee. Everyone manages it, and so do I.”The timing of the flare-up made the disappointment even harder to accept.“But it’s one of those days. You want just one day in a year when you don’t have that pain, but it came on that day only. It really stings. In these conditions, I was really confident I could jump for a win, jump for a medal. I really knew I could win a medal,” he said. “But to not even get through the first height, it stings because I was in really great shape.”Explaining the issue further, he added: “It’s just overuse of the patellar tendon. There is nothing spectacular about it. It just flared up today and ruined my entire competition.”
Eyes now on decathlon return
Despite the setback, Tejaswin has not given up on his Commonwealth Games campaign.The versatile athlete remains optimistic of recovering in time for the decathlon, which begins on Thursday.“I will come back in two days. We still have two days. I’ll give my best over the next two days and try and fix this. I will obviously start. I’m not here on vacation,” he said. “The patellar tendon is used in high jump and long jump, so if I’m somehow able to get by those two events, I’m still confident the other events will be fine.”Tejaswin is the national record holder in the decathlon too.
