Tejaswin Shankar said he felt “relieved” and “very happy” after winning a bronze medal in the decathlon at the Commonwealth Games, a result that also made him the first-ever Indian to secure a Commonwealth Games medal in the discipline. Shankar finished with a total of 7,976 points, calling the achievement especially meaningful given he was unsure about competing just days before the event due to a sudden flare-up in his leg injury.
Speaking after the competition, Shankar explained that the uncertainty around his fitness made the medal unexpected, and he leaned on a simple approach to get through the two-day multi-event challenge: staying present and focusing on the task directly in front of him. The bronze adds another notable moment for India in athletics at the Commonwealth Games, with Shankar’s podium finish now part of the country’s history at the multi-sport event.
Injury doubt to historic podium: Shankar’s mindset across the decathlon
Shankar revealed that two days before the decathlon he “wasn’t even in a position to compete” because of a sudden flare-up in his leg. He said that at that point he did not expect the result he ultimately achieved, but the experience pushed him to narrow his focus and take things step by step.
“It feels good not to be returning empty-handed; I am very happy… if we look back to two days before the decathlon, I wasn’t even in a position to compete, given the sudden flare-up in my leg. I didn’t expect to achieve the result I did today,” Shankar told ANI.
He described the mindset that helped him navigate the decathlon’s demands: “to take it one day at a time, focusing on one session, one hour, and one step at a time, and see where it led.” Shankar said that was the approach he carried into the competition itself, moving from event to event without looking too far ahead.
As he outlined, the early sequence of the decathlon set the tone for how he tried to manage the pressure and physical load. “That was the mindset I started the decathlon with. And after the 100m, we moved on to the long jump and shot put. So, for each event, it was just about that single throw, rep, or jump; I was quite happy that I could stay in the moment and execute,” he said.
Shankar’s 7,976-point total underlined the scale of the performance across the full programme, but his comments focused less on the aggregate and more on the process of getting through each segment despite the late injury concern. The bronze, he indicated, carried extra weight because it ensured he did not leave the Games without a medal after the uncertainty leading into the start.
1500m seals bronze as Warner takes silver and Victor wins gold
The decisive moment in Shankar’s medal-winning effort came in the final event, the 1500m. He produced what the report described as a strong performance, clocking 4:36.19 to secure the bronze medal position at the end of the decathlon.
There was a late challenge from an English competitor in the 1500m, who finished in 4:32.29. However, that time was not enough to overtake Shankar in the overall standings, allowing the Indian athlete to hold his ground and complete a historic podium finish.
In the final medal positions, Grenada’s Lindon Victor won gold and Canada’s Damian Warner claimed silver, with Shankar taking bronze to become India’s first Commonwealth Games decathlon medallist. With the 7,976-point total and a medal secured in the last event, Shankar’s performance stands as a landmark achievement for Indian athletics at the Commonwealth Games.
