Tejaswin Shankar Clinches India’s First Ever Track & Field Medal
Tejaswin Shankar, the first Indian high jumper to win a medal, would have fared better if he hadn’t missed a few times. His bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games is still an achievement because his personal best is 2.29m high.
On Wednesday, India took home their first medal in the event with Tejaswin Shankar clinching the bronze by clearing a height of 2.22 meters.
Hamish Kerr from New Zealand beat the defending champion from Australia and won the gold medal in 2.25 meters
The Indian Shankar started with a success jump of 2.10 meters as he took smooth strides to clear the 2.15 meter hurdle easily on his first try.
Shankar cleared the bar with a jump of 2.19 meters twice. He quickly cleared the bar again on his first attempt of 2.22 meters, showing that it wasn’t hard for him to take off from the ground
He failed to beat the height of the bar which was 2.25 meters on his first and second attempts, so he decided to get over the 2.28 meter high hurdle but it did not work out for him.
Indian athlete Tejaswin Shankar won the bronze because he had fewer fouls than Bahamian champion Donald Thomas.
After more than 5 years of waiting, Shankar was finally able to compete in the Games. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was given clearance for Shankar’s entry after initially being rejected by officials who found it last minute and unexpected. Tejwaasin, who beat out a slew of opponents, secured a spot on the Indian team after his acceptance from the CGF and Birmingham CWG organizers.
India’s Tejaswin Shankar was not able to take part in the opening ceremony because he had been delayed due to all the fuss around his participation. However, this didn’t stop him from performing well on the stage.