Athlete, teaching assistant, student – Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar takes on three roles in bid to qualify for 2028 Olympics

Earlier this month, Shankar packed his bags and left for Manhattan for his second stint at KSU to do a Masters in kinesiology and exercise science. He aims to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and trains with a group of decathletes coached by Kip Janvrin, a former Pan American Games gold medallist.

Tejaswin Shankar in action. (Asian Athletics)

“I have a consistent training environment. For two years, I’m in the country where the next Olympics is going to take place. I can give myself the best shot at trying to make the LA Olympics. If my journey to the Olympics goes through a classroom, I don’t mind it,” Tejaswin said.

Unlike the others in his training group, Tejaswin can no longer participate in NCAA competitions because he has completed five years on the circuit.

“My eligibility has expired. Now, I’m just an old guy who’s training,” the 27-year-old said lightheartedly. “The athletes I train with are all NCAA eligible.”

A decathlon national record holder with 7,826 points, Tejaswin aims to be the first Indian to break the 8,000-point barrier. Training with a group of competitive decathletes is an advantage.

“The coach (Janvrin) has scored some 8,500 points. The idea is to be among 8,000-point calibre athletes so I can break that barrier. There are two guys here who are around 7800-7900 points. So it’s a very strong group. Pole vault is one of their stronger events and one of my weaker ones. So I want to be where I’m pushed in training every day. Unlike in Delhi, where I was practising by myself and coaching myself,” he said.

Hectic schedule

However, Tejaswin has more on his plate compared to when he was a student-athlete because now he has three roles to fulfil — athlete, teaching assistant and student.

His education is funded by the kinesiology department as he is a ‘graduate teaching assistant’. He will teach biomechanics and introduction to kinesiology. His weekly schedule: Six days of training, attending two classes and teaching three.

“It’s probably more hectic because earlier I was just studying, but now I am studying and teaching others. The semester starts only next Tuesday. But it’s difficult because my background is in accountancy and finance and for me to be able to teach a class in a different major, there’s a lot of extra prep that I have to do. I get the lecture (material) a week before, so I have to take notes, go through that myself before I can teach that to the class to make sure that I have all the answers to all the questions and then hope that whatever questions the kids are asking. I can answer,” Tejaswin said.

Once he is armed with a Masters, Tejaswin’s ‘gyan’ on YouTube will have the edge — his experience as an athlete and knowledge gained in a classroom. When he spoke to his professors at KSU for advice on a bridge course, he liked what he heard — kinesiology that dives deep into exercise physiology and energy systems of the body. He feels his perspective will broaden too.

“In India, good former athletes become coaches. But I think bias creeps in. Just because you were a good athlete, sometimes a lot of things that come to you naturally might not come to another athlete. There’s 10 ways to high jump, but in my bias, I’ll only look at that one way to jump high because that’s how I jumped high. If I have the academic understanding of how the body works, I’ll be able to appreciate the other nine ways also.”