'Medals, competitors, statistics are for analysts to worry about': Tejaswin ahead of Asian Games

NEW DELHI: For Tejaswin Shankar, the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou set to begin on Saturday, is an opportunity to promote Decathlon and bring the track-and-field event to focus in India.

The 24-year-old athlete, who already has the high jump National Record to his name, and who also secured the Bronze medal in the high jump at the Commonwealth Games last year, the decision to switch to Decathlon has proven fruitful.

In his just second competition as a decathlete, Tejaswin scored 7,648 points at the Jim Click Shootout competition in Arizona, USA, missing out on Bharatinder Singh's 2011 national record by 10 points. The score also allowed him to cross the 7,500-point mark needed to secure an Asian Games berth. After his stellar performance at Arizona, Tejaswin competed in two more Decathlon events: the 62nd National Interstate Senior Athletics Championship and, most recently, the Asian Athletics Championships. Now, ahead of his biggest competition to date, Tejaswin's focus is on the sport and not on the competition.

In a candid conversation, the athlete opened up on his mindset ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and how he is looking to deal with the pressure of expectations.

"I feel like medals, competitors, statistics, are all for the analysts to worry about," Tejaswin said as quoted by an Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) press release.

"As an athlete, the one thing that I worry about is the sport. Anything can happen on a given day. Because if we go by statistics, last year, I had no shot, first of all, even making it to the Commonwealth Games and second of all, getting a medal there. So for me at the Asian Games, the whole expectation is to try and recreate what I did at the Commonwealth Games. Because the experience was really good," Tejaswin said.

Moreover, with a few days left for the tournament to begin, Tejaswin wants to focus on himself rather than worrying about the results. He believes if he performs his best on any day, he can achieve the desired results.

"I want to have that feeling back of going there, and competing to the best of my ability without worrying about what may happen, and what may not happen. I have two whole days of worrying about a competition where I am going to continuously think about it for 48 hours. The less I think about the competitors now, the less I worry about the results. I think that's the best approach. I know that if I am able to show up on that given day, I am as competitive or better than any other competitor in that field.

My only goal is to go and express myself to the best of my ability," he said. However, competing in a decathlon is not an easy task. It is a gruelling competition comprising 10 events - 100m, long jump, high jump, shot put and 400m on Day One, followed by 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin and 1500m on Day 2. 

To compete at the highest level at the event, Tejaswin had to work on his fitness, stamina, and endurance abilities, along with maintaining a rigorous diet programme. His time at the IIS proved helpful in this regard, giving him a proper direction to maintain his all-around fitness levels.