For Commonwealth Video games bronze medallist excessive jumper Tejaswin Shankar, reaching the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar for the Inter-State meet together with his tools was in itself half the battle gained.
Aiming to symbolize India within the much less glamorous but gruelling decathlon for the upcoming Asian Video games, Tejaswin landed in Delhi about 10 days again from Kansas Metropolis, US, the place he just lately stop his “extraordinarily effectively paid” job.
However when he landed within the Capital after his transit flight from Finland, he needed to wait unusually lengthy for his baggage which finally was handed to him after virtually 4 days. The contents of the bundle have been a set of poles for vaulting that would not match by way of any conveyer belt on the Delhi airport, leaving officers with a puzzle to crack. The Pole vault is among the 10 occasions which comprise the decathlon.
“I went there for 4 days and virtually sat on a dharna (protest there),” joked the two-time NCAA champion. However after just a few calls to the higher-ups, his poles have been launched from a separate gate after some extra paperwork.
Tejaswin with pole vaulters. (Categorical Picture)
“I’ve by no means confronted such points whereas travelling within the US however after I got here right here and spoke to Siva (present pole vault nationwide report) he instructed me it is a day by day affair for vaulters. My respect for vaulters has elevated by leaps and bounds now,” Tejaswin, who labored within the audit crew of Deollite after ending his enterprise research at Kansas State College, mentioned.
Bargaining abilities
When he arrived in Bhubaneswar for the Inter-State meet which is able to act as a range trial for the upcoming Asian Video games, he confronted one remaining hurdle in bringing the poles to the stadium. “My room is only a kilometre away from the stadium and the cab driver was asking for Rs 700. All Delhi bargaining abilities, which have been mendacity dormant within the US for the final six years, got here to life,” Tejaswin mentioned.
Tejaswin is now targeted on breaking the decathlon nationwide report which he missed by a whisker in April. On the Jim Click on Shootout competitors in Arizona, USA in April he collected 7,648 factors — 10 fewer than Bharatinder Singh’s 2011 nationwide report. Within the course of, he additionally breached the Athletics Federation of India’s Asian Video games minimize of seven,500 however Tejaswin isn’t going to take any probabilities particularly after what transpired within the run-up to the Commonwealth Video games final yr.
“Major aim is to complete first. My thoughts and physique are utterly set and I’ll go after the report however the one hurdle proper now could be the humid climate. However that’s not bothering me because the circumstances are the identical for everybody. One factor I’ve learnt from the CWG episode is that you’ve been simply able to carry out at any time and underneath any circumstance,” Tejaswin mentioned.
Tejaswin is referring to the entire choice fiasco that occurred forward of the Birmingham Commonwealth Video games final yr when he needed to take the federation to court docket to compete regardless of being the one excessive jumper to have achieved the AFI’s qualifying commonplace. His identify was included on the final second as he watched the opening ceremony from his house in Delhi.
Regardless of the uncertainty and race in opposition to time, Tejaswin managed to win India’s first-ever excessive soar medal on the CWG. “That medal modified me totally. It made me imagine in my talents. I simply saved my thoughts clear. I wasn’t going to consider jet lag, lack of preparation and so forth. I simply went out and carried out and it paid off. That medal has made me a distinct individual and athlete,” he mentioned.
After a six-year stint within the US the place he joined Deollite after finishing his grasp’s in accounting from Kansas State College, Tejaswin has returned to India. His visa was attributable to expire however he didn’t search an extension since he wished to spend extra time together with his household and ailing grandmother.
Tejaswin feels his keep within the US has utterly modified his outlook in the direction of not solely sports activities however life. One of many issues he first observed was the stark distinction in how elite athletes in India are handled as in comparison with the US. He had first-hand expertise at his first job itself.
“They employed me purely for my educational talents. I’d generally work for 12 hours after which go to apply. Individuals on the workplace clapped for me after I returned from a contest and even mentioned they watched me on television however their subsequent line was, ‘The place is the report’ (laughs). Right here, athletes keep in a camp and all of the services are supplied. Their American athletes get a naked minimal stipend and must work to earn a residing,” mentioned Tejaswin.
“Hammer Throw 2022 world champion Brooke Anderson is a good friend of mine, and you’ll not imagine what she does. She cooks for others whereas persevering with her coaching. So one factor I’ve learnt there’s, nothing comes straightforward,” he mentioned. That lesson will come in useful throughout his two-day 10-event competitors within the humid circumstances of Bhubaneshwar.
Be careful for
Barring just a few massive names, the Inter-State meet will see a number of star athletes competing to safe a spot within the Asian Video games squad.
Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles): Arguably top-of-the-line athletes on the circuit, Jyothi is the primary and solely Indian athlete to clock a sub 13s 100m hurdles. She has run 4 sub-13 hurdles this season to this point.
Sreeshankar Murali (lengthy soar): Recent from a confidence-boosting Paris Diamond League third-place end, Sreeshankar could be desperate to reclaim his nationwide report from his good friend Jeswin Aldrin, who recorded an enormous soar of 8.42m just a few months in the past.
Shaili Singh (lengthy soar): After going by way of a lean patch attributable to accidents, prodigious jumper Shaili Singh is again in enterprise. Similar to the boys’s occasion, the ladies’s lengthy soar guarantees to be a high-octane contest with Ancy Joseph and seasoned Nayana James within the combine
Praveen Chitravel (triple soar): He jumped 17.37m in Havana — higher than the nationwide mark — nevertheless it waits to be seen whether it is ratified. CWG medallists Abdulla Aboobacker, Eldhose Paul, World U20 silver medalist Selva Prabhu, and Karthik Unnikrishnan make it a robust area.