Tejaswin Shankar to skip World Athletics Championships and prioritize Asian Games

Tejaswin Shankar, India's best high jumper and decathlete, has chosen to skip the World Athletics Championships in order to focus his time and energies on the upcoming Asian Games.

While Shankar has booked himself a spot in the World Championships, he feels a lack of preparation will translate to a poor performance in Budapest.

"You have to be honest with yourself, and I am very honest and clear about my chances. My outdoor season's best this year is 2.21m, so how can I expect to jump 2.30m at the Worlds? When I haven't practiced enough, how can I expect to perform there?

"I see no point in going to the World Championships and jumping 2.16 or 2.20m and coming back empty-handed. I would rather prepare for the Asian Games because I have a realistic chance of a medal there," Tejaswin told ESPN in an interview.

Meanwhile, the 24-year-old does have a brighter chance of bringing back a medal from the Asian Games. He is currently ranked fifth in Asia, after a career-high 7,648 points that he achieved in April earlier this year.

Speaking on his plans to refocus his energy for the Asian Games, Tejaswin Shankar said:

"I want to take some time off and just focus on preparing for the decathlon at the Asian Games. I am somebody who has done 10 events multiple times this year, so I need to give my body that time to get back into training every event so that I can excel at the Asian Games."

"You cannot compare me to any other single-discipline athletes who competes week in and week out because the nature of our disciplines is very different. They need those repetitions, but that will just tire me more. I have to focus on the intricacies of each and every event, which is, in itself, a big task.

"I need time to spend more time at the drawing board. The more time I spend competing, the more time I am away from doing the real work and hampering my chances of doing well at the Asian Games," he further explained his position.

Why the Asian Games are a priority for Indian athletes?

An Asian Games medal comes with a multitude of benefits for an Indian athlete

Medaling at the Asian Games definitely comes with its perks in a country like India. A podium finish will ensure national and state benefits for an athlete, including but not limited to cash prizes ranging from ₹10 to 30 lakhs.

Given the perks of a medal at the games, Tejaswin Shankar made the difficult decision to skip the World Athletics Championships. He did so after a chat with the Athletics Federation of India and Radhakrishnan Nair, India's chief athletics coach.

"I said I was keen to participate at the World Championships, but the reality is that I don't know if I am in the physical shape to perform at my best. If I can't perform at my best, and I know that I cannot do it, then I don't want to go and embarrass myself. I'll prepare myself for what I am actually preparing for: that's the Asian Games."

Eventually, though, Shankar admits that he does intend to get to a level where he can compete in both the high jump and decathlon regularly. He draws his inspiration from Swiss athlete Simon Ehammer, who claimed a silver at the 2022 European Championships and a long jump bronze at the 2022 World Championships.

"This is a big transition year for me. Eventually, I want to be like Simon Ehammer who can consistently jump 8.20m or 8.30m [in the long jump] and also do the decathlon. But I am not there yet and that is the reality. Nobody is going to care at the world level if I am going to jump 2.15m or 2.16m.

"If I can jump 2.30m and then come back and do well at the decathlon, then I have all the right to go to the World Championships and be happy about it. But when I am not at that level now, what's the point in going there and being just another 'also-ran'.