CWG medallist Tejaswin creates buzz in Delhi meet

Indian star athlete Tejaswin Shankar’s arrival at the East Vinod Nagar Stadium created quite a stir.

The national record holder in both high jump and decathlon events showed up to take part in the Delhi State Annual Athletics Championships on Friday. Tejaswin’s name in the starting list got everyone hooked to the high jump competition and everyone who was in the stadium congregated towards the high jump landing pits.

Tejaswin looked at ease, rarely looked rushed and did not push himself to clear the bar. Rather he was concerned not to get injured in the hot and humid conditions during the competition.

Tejaswin was forced to take part in the state meet because of a selection condition where Indian athletes have to compete in two competitions, be it a state meet and an open meet or two open meets, in order to compete in the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships that will be held in Chennai in August. Since Tejaswin is flying out to compete in Europe, he had only this competition to make the qualifying standard.

After winning the men’s field with a jump of 2.11 metres, Tejaswin confirmed he was competing because he had to make the requirement.

“The positive side of this is that the other athlete who was competing against me, Akash (Kumar Verma), this was the first time he had the opportunity to compete with me. He did his career best because under good competition you are able to push yourself. That was a big positive,” he told The Tribune on Friday.

“But I personally feel that it is a bit unnecessary for the fact that I had just jumped 2.19 last week at the Indian Open (in Bengaluru). Then people may say I could have played the Sangrur meet but then it does not suit my calendar as I have to travel to Europe the day after the Neeraj Chopra Classic. The whole point is to monitor the athlete performances. But how am I benefiting if I am not competing in an F category meet abroad and competing in Delhi state,” he added.

Akash and Tejaswin were competing together as the officials clubbed both the senior and U-20 competitors together due to fewer entries. Akash won the U-20 category with a best jump of 2.08m.

Tejaswin conceded that he did not push himself in the meet. “When you want to compete hard that’s when the human mind pushes you and you go beyond boundaries that you never thought you could. But this instance was more about controlled aggression to try and win the meet just to fulfil the criteria,” he said

“Last night I caught a flight to fulfil this criteria and tomorrow I am flying to Bengaluru. The Indian Open was a good place to check where I was at with my preparation but this meet was an overkill. It was avoidable for me but at the same time I have already competed and I am happy that the other kid got an opportunity to record his personal best and I didn’t get hurt. It is a win-win,” he added.

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