Tejaswin Shankar scripted history on Friday by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a medal in the men’s decathlon at a major international multi-sport event, clinching bronze at the Commonwealth Games 2026.
The 27-year-old also became the first Indian athlete to win Commonwealth Games medals in two different athletics disciplines. He had earlier won a bronze medal in the men’s high jump at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Competing in one of track and field’s most demanding events, Tejaswin finished with 7,976 points, narrowly missing the 8,000-point mark he had previously achieved as India’s first decathlete to cross the milestone. The reigning Asian champion in both the decathlon and heptathlon finished behind Victor Lindon of Grenada, who claimed gold with a season-best 8,096 points, and Canada’s Damian Warner, who took silver with 8,036 points.
Tejaswin began the competition by finishing seventh in the 100m in 10.96 seconds to earn 870 points. He then produced a 7.82m effort in the long jump, earning 1,015 points and moving up to third in the overall standings. He added 673 points in the shot put, cleared 2.15m in the high jump for 944 points, and collected 837 points with a fifth-place finish in the 400m, ending the opening day with 4,339 points and occupying second place overall.
On the second day, he earned 922 points in the 110m hurdles, followed by 674 points in the discus throw and 704 points in the pole vault, slipping to fourth in the overall standings. A strong performance in the javelin throw lifted him back into the medal positions before he sealed the bronze with 704 points in the concluding 1,500m race, taking his overall tally to 7,976 points.
Tejaswin, the Indian national record holder in the decathlon, is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he won two NCAA Division I high jump titles. He first rose to prominence after setting the Indian high jump record of 2.29m in 2018 and went on to become the first Indian male high jumper to win a Commonwealth Games medal with bronze at Birmingham 2022.
After transitioning his focus to combined events, Tejaswin won the decathlon silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games and has since established himself as one of Asia’s leading combined-events athletes. His bronze medal in Glasgow marks another milestone for Indian athletics and the country’s growing presence in multi-event competitions.
(With inputs from IANS)
