Going against late father’s wishes and still rising to the Top: Tejaswin Shankar’s story
March 14, 2018
India would be relying on the shoulders of 19-year-old Tejaswin Shankar to bag a medal in high jump at the Commonwealth Games. Shankar might be only 19 years old, but he has experienced an eventful life.
Growing up he was just like any other cricket loving kid in the country. It was only at the age of 14 years that he realised that his career lay somewhere else. Introduced to high jump by his high school coach, the lanky fast bowler changed direction in 2013. Such was his rise that he broke all records in his age group on his way to breaking the biggest of them all. In 2016, he became India’s national high jump champion and set a new national record of 2.26m in the process. His father, another cricket fanatic had even tried persuading him to leave athletics and concentrate on his studies. Sadly, he passed away when Shankar was in his teens.
CWG 2018 will be his first appearance at the Games. And he has set his eyes on a medal. He trains at Kansas University in the U.S.A. which he credits for developing his technique and posture. He is quite enamoured by the attention and affection he has been getting recently. India will be watching closely, he knows.
