"It was one of the ways I could pass my anxiety on to somebody else" - CWG 2022 bronze medal winner Tejaswin Shankar

Indian athlete Tejaswin Shankar entered the record books when he became the first Indian high jumper to win a Commonwealth Games medal. Tejaswin cleared the bar with a best effort of 2.22m as he opened the Indian athletics medal quota at CWG 2022 in Birmingham.

The Delhi-based athlete failed to cross 2.25m twice, clearing 2.22m in his first attempt. The high-jumper went for an attempt to clear the 2.28m mark on his third and final attempt but failed.

The national record holder was assured of a historic bronze medal for his country as Donald Thomas of the Bahamas failed to clear the 2.25m mark in his final attempt.

Hamish Kerr of New Zealand won gold while Australia's Brandon Strac won the silver.

The CWG 2022 bronze medal will mean a lot to Tejaswin Shankar after the fiasco surrounding his inclusion in the contingent. He was first snubbed by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and their wisdom in doing so is only known to them.

Tejaswin Shankar went to the courts and the AFI finally included him in the squad. He then received another jolt when CWG organizers rejected his late entry. However, after a Delegate Registration Meeting (DRM), his name was finally included, ending a month-long drama.

Tejaswin Shankar determined to do well

In an interaction from Birmingham, organized by the Indian Olympic Association, Tejaswin Shankar said he was determined to do well in the competition. Speaking about the same, he said:

"It is always hard when somebody has to go through all those sorts of things (the fiasco surrounding his inclusion). Once everything worked in my favor, after all the stakeholders were able to figure out a way to get me to the competition, I wanted to make sure that I performed.

"Everything came together, destiny or whatever one wants to want to call it but things happened. I was able to put all my thoughts behind me and just focus on the task at hand. I had three or four days to recover and perform."

Tejaswin Shankar stated that the cancelation of the qualifying rounds, as there were fewer entries, also helped his cause. He explained:

"I got here on Saturday and then I had a Sunday and a Monday to recover. Luckily, the qualifying rounds got canceled on Tuesday because we had fewer entries. I had an extra day to recover. I was able to compete on Wednesday and make the most of my rest day."

The national record holder added that the key was to remove any excess thoughts from his mind. He added:

"There were a lot of things happening before I got to Birmingham but the moment I got here, from then on, it was okay. I understood what I was here for and then just going to do what I am supposed to and not worry about any excess baggage. I think that worked in my favor."

Before every jump, the Indian athlete was urging the crowd to clap and cheer for him. When asked the reason for doing the same, Tejaswin Shankar revealed:

"The reason I did that was because it was one of the ways I could pass my anxiety on to somebody else. After my first jump, I scraped the bar and I was very close to knocking it down. I honestly thought I knocked it down, I looked up but it was still there. I realized that physically I was in the competition but mentally I was a little reserved. I thought to just pass my anxiety over to the crowd or somebody else."

Tejaswin Shankar added that the claps were to get into a rhythm ahead of his pre-jump formalities and said:

"I just started a clap, which a lot of jumpers do, to get some energy from the crowd or get into a rhythm. That is what I did. After that, I was able to clear the next height pretty comfortably. So, I realized that if this rhythm works for me, then that is what I'm going to do every jump just make sure everything's consistent."

Tejaswin Shankar targets Asian Games glory next

Tejaswin Shankar has set sights on competing well at the Asian Games next year and also revealed that he will be participating in a new event - the decathlon. He explained:

"The next step for me would be to get some work experience as I just finished my masters. One of my long-term goals is definitely the Asian Games next year, which I'm probably going to try and participate in is decathlon. That's what I'll be training for.

"We also have the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games was a good meet in terms of qualification points for the ranking. So that's another competition that I look forward to and try to get into."

Watch: CWG 2022: Saurav Ghosal gets emotional as he celebrates historic singles bronze medal in squash