Tejaswin Shankar’s Commonwealth Games 2026 high jump campaign may have ended in heartbreak, but the Indian athlete chose to stay on the sidelines to cheer compatriot Sarvesh Kushare as he scripted history with India’s first-ever men’s high jump medal at the Games.
Forced to withdraw after just one attempt due to a knee injury, the Birmingham 2022 bronze medallist watched Kushare clear 2.25m to claim silver before praising his fellow high jumper for thriving under difficult conditions.
“Kudos to Sarvesh for managing these conditions. He did very well. India’s first medal in track and field. I think that’s something huge that we should all cherish and congratulate him,” Tejaswin told IANS.
Kushare, who broke Tejaswin’s eight-year-old national record with a 2.31m leap at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar last month, bettered his senior teammate’s bronze-winning performance from Birmingham by securing silver in Glasgow.
Tejaswin Shankar shifts focus to Decathlon after injury scare
Tejaswin revealed he felt a sharp pain in his knee during the warm-up before the competition, forcing him to abandon his high jump campaign after his opening unsuccessful attempt at 2.05m.
The injury, he explained, was linked to recurring tendonitis rather than a fresh problem.
“In my second jump, I felt a shooting pain in my knee. It’s not a new injury, but I’ve always had tendonitis in my knee. Sometimes that’s just how it is. The day you need your body the most is the day something like this happens,” he said.
The 26-year-old admitted the setback was particularly difficult because he had arrived in Glasgow confident of challenging for another Commonwealth Games medal.
“I was so positive, so excited to compete. These are actually the conditions I enjoy. My body responds well to cold weather and rain, but sometimes things don’t go your way,” he added.
Rather than risk aggravating the injury, Tejaswin decided to withdraw and focus on recovering for the decathlon, which begins on Thursday.
“I still have two days before the start of my decathlon. That’s why I decided to stop after my first jump. I don’t want to ruin the next event that I have.
“Until that event breaks me or until I give up, I’m going to use these two days to recover, fix this problem and try to put together a big score,” he said.
Tejaswin is India’s national record holder in the decathlon and won silver at the 2022 Asian Games besides claiming two medals at the Asian Championships. He also became the first Indian to cross the 8,000-point mark in the gruelling 10-event discipline.