From cricket fields to breaking national records in the high jump
In short: Tejaswin Shankar didn't start as a track star. After playing cricket until seventh grade, a teacher suggested he switch to high jump. That pivot launched a career that saw him break national records, battle severe injuries, and become a pioneer for Indian athletics on the global stage.
Born in 1998 in South Delhi, Shankar's path to elite athletics was unconventional. While studying at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, his transition from cricket to high jump set the stage for a rapid ascent. By 2015, he was already making international appearances, winning gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia with a record-breaking 2.14 m jump. However, his journey was marked by significant physical setbacks, including a six-month period bedridden in 2017 due to a slipped disc and various injuries that forced him to miss major championships.
Shankar's rise is defined by both personal grit and legal advocacy. In 2022, after meeting qualification standards but being initially left off the Commonwealth Games contingent, he took the Indian Athletics federation to court to secure his spot. Securing a bronze in Birmingham, he achieved the inaugural high jump award for India during the Commonwealth Games. His versatility later expanded into the decathlon, where he secured medals at the 2023 Asian Championships and the 2023 Asian Games, eventually becoming the first Indian decathlete to break the 8,000-point barrier in 2026.
Beyond the medals, Shankar has integrated high-level academics with professional sports. He earned degrees in accounting from Kansas State University on a four-year scholarship, briefly worked at Deloitte, and later returned to the U.S. to study kinesiology to prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He also co-founded King's Sports Group with his wife, Siddhi Hiray, an initiative designed to help student-athletes navigate the U.S. collegiate scholarship system, bridging the gap between elite performance and academic opportunity.
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