Asian Athletics Championships: Jolt in javelin denies Tejaswin Shankar decathlon gold

“My first throw was really good. I was on par for a big personal best. It settled around 57-58 metres but I fouled,” Tejaswin reflected.
In the final standings, Tejaswin totalled 7,618 points for a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, an upgrade from the bronze he won two years ago. Xiang Fei won gold (7,634 pts) and Japan’s Keisuke Okuda was third (7,602).

The competition went down to the wire. Post the javelin event, Tejaswin had dropped from second spot to third.

In the 1,500m , the last event of the decathlon, Tejaswin said he went all out. He had to finish 10 seconds faster than Xiang Fei to win gold but could manage only a gap of seven.

“In the end, I had an opportunity to play safe and go behind the bronze medalist and make sure I secure that medal, or try and get that 10-second lead and see if I can challenge for the gold. And I made the decision that I want to challenge for the gold. I missed by three seconds, that was the difference between gold and silver. Sixteen points… three seconds,” the 26-year-old said.

This wasn’t Tejaswin’s best outing, that was at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. He tallied 7,666 points to break the national record.
Like he said, the focus was on winning a medal. “In championship meets, it is more about trying to win a medal for the country, and less about what could have been done, should have been done. I am happy that I was able to secure something.”

There were takeaways for him — best-ever performances in the 110m hurdles, on Wednesday, and the shot put, on Tuesday.

A personal best in shot put helped him recover from a poor start.

“The shot put was overdue. The first time I threw a shot put was in 2022 and that was my personal best. Since then, I have never got a personal best. I am happy with it. The first two events (100m and long jump) on day one, I was really struggling and my first two throws were also very bad in the shot put. Then somehow, I was able to summon up all the courage I had in the third throw, I just went for it. I got a personal best and that changed the momentum,” Tejaswin said.

Drawing inspiration

He also drew inspiration from Japan’s Yuma Maruyama, a favourite to win gold but ‘did not finish’ after hurting his neck while warming up for the hurdles.

Despite the injury, Maruyama ran the hurdles and also featured in the discus, pole vault and javelin. However, the Japanese pulled out of the 1,500m.

“He would have definitely won a gold medal if not for that fall, seriously injuring his neck. Despite that, he continued through the events. He decided not to run the 1,500. Before that, he did every event and was trying to push through. That gave me motivation that if he can do it with that injury, I can at least challenge for the gold medal. All I have to do is run fast.”

Like the shot put result was a shot in the arm for Tejaswin, so was his timing in the hurdles. “The first thing I need to do is not fall and compete so at least I can secure a medal. The personal best was the cherry on the cake.”

After the first day, Tejaswin was leading the field with 4,205 points, 40 ahead of Maruyama. He said it was due to his strong events, including the high jump — he is the national record holder — being on the first day. Tejaswin is used to the narrative on social media that he is set to get gold at the end of the first five events before it gets harder for him the next day.

“It is a rollercoaster of emotions. Especially in my case, most of my strong events line up on Day One, so most competitions I am leading after day one. But I pull myself back and say I still have the pole vault and javelin remaining the next day. Those are some events that are a work in progress.”