National Games 2023: Tejaswin Shankar breaks National Games record to win gold in decathlon
Tejaswin Shankar broke the National Games record in the men's decathlon event at the Bambolim Athletics Stadium on Tuesday, October 31. Representing Delhi in the 37th National Games, the 24-year-old accumulated 7199 points in the 10-event contest to clinch the gold medal.
Tejaswin Shankar continued his terrific run in 2023 by accounting for 4062 points to lead the charts on Day 1 (October 30) of the men's decathlon. He started with a timing of 11.18 seconds in 100m before recording 2.17m in his pet event High Jump, which fetched him the most points (963).
The athletics competitions were delayed due to heavy rainfall on Tuesday. When the event resumed after a one-hour break, Tejaswin Shankar finished second in 1500m, clocking 4:42.88.
He gained 662 points in the middle distance running event to add to the points of 841 (110m Hurdles), 581 (Discus Throw), 535 (Pole Vault), and 518 (Javelin Throw). The Delhi athlete finished with 3137 points on Day 2 to break the National Games record of 7121 points in the men's decathlon, which was set by Uttar Pradesh's Usaid Khan in the previous edition in Gujarat.
Meanwhile, Rohit Roman (6794 points) of Services and N. Thowfeeq (6755) of Kerala won silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's decathlon.
Tejaswin Shankar participates in the National Games to encourage domestic competitors
On October 3 last month, Tejaswin Shankar broke the 12-year-old National record in decathlon en route to clinching the silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. He finished the 10-team event in the continental showpiece with 7666 points to better Bhartinder Singh's tally of 7658 points created in 2011.
Tejaswin Shankar wasn't set to compete in the National Games but turned up in the end to boost fellow decathletes in the domestic circuit.
According to a Sportstar report, the Asian Games medallist plans to travel to the United States in December to work on the high jump to kick off the preparations for the Paris Olympics 2024.