CHENNAI: LUCK is not a good friend of Tejaswin Shankar. In March, the high jumper decided to skip the Federation Cup in Patiala to write his exams at the Kansas State University. In doing so, he missed out on a chance to be part of the Indian team that went to Doha for the Asian Championships. A few months later, the national record-holder planned his vacation in such a way that he could participate in the Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships. But the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had other ideas. The meet that was supposed to be held in July was postponed to August-end.
The Inter-State is also the qualifying meet for Indian athletes aspiring to seal a spot at the World Championships. However, Tejaswin is not worried about missing out on the showpiece event. While it was part of his initial plan, Tejaswin is eyeing something bigger.
“Ideally, I wanted to compete in more meets before coming to the Inter-State. But I sat down with my coach Cliff Rowelto and decided that the Olympics will be a bigger target,” he told TNIE.
“But I really wanted to compete in a meet in India because that’s the way to get into teams. I already missed out on Asian Championships. I cannot afford to do that again. Thankfully, it doesn’t matter this time.”
The Olympic qualification mark is 2.33m. The 20-year-old has a personal best of 2.29m, which he set last year. While 2.33m looks a little far-fetched at the moment, Tejaswin is planning to make the most out of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) indoor meets to seal a Tokyo berth. The top 32 jumpers in the world will also be able to participate in the quadrennial event. The young jumper is currently ranked 35th in the world.
“The indoor season starts in January. So I have to be fit for that. If I participate in Worlds, then I will have had only three months to prepare for that. If I can consistently jump in the 2.29-2.30m range in four to five meets, then I can crack the top 32,” he said.
The jumper’s exclusion from the Asian Championships squad became a huge controversy earlier this year. Despite making the cut in collegiate meets, he was left out. Tejsawin took to Twitter to voice his frustrations and it did not go down well with the AFI.
President Adille Sumariwalla said that they have no proof of how much he has jumped in meets abroad even though it was updated on the International Association of Athletics Federations website. However, the athlete is not going to go down that road once again.
“I will send my results and also make sure that my coach is in touch with the AFI to avoid any confusion.”