Tejaswin Shankar wins bronze in high jump at Commonwealth Games

Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in Men’s high jump event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night.

Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in men’s high jump event with a best jump of 2.22m at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night.  | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in men’s high jump event with a best jump of 2.22m at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night.

Shankar had first time clearances at 2.10m, 2.15m, 2.19m and 2.22m. However, he had two failed attempts at 2.25m. Brandon Starc of Australia and Hamish Kerr of New Zealand went clear at 2.25m. The bar was then raised to 2.28m. Shankar had only one attempt left at that height, which he missed. Kerr took the gold and Starc won silver.

Shankar had endured a rocky build-up to the Games, with his participation in doubt till the last minute.

It started off with a ‘yes’ after he had met the Athletic Federation of India’s (AFI) high jump qualification standard for the Commonwealth Games at the NCAA championships. Then came a ‘no’ when the AFI announced that he wasn’t going to be picked because he did not take part in the Inter State Championships.

Shankar would bounce between hope and despair for the next few weeks before getting what he thought was the definitive decision ‘no’ – when the IOA had announced two weeks ago that his name had not been accepted by the Commonwealth Games. Then last month, news broke that the Commonwealth Games Federation had accepted Shankar’s inclusion in the Indian team, after two previous members had failed dope tests.

Shankar had reached Birmingham just three days before his event. The two-time NCAA champion has a personal best of 2.29m.