‘I’m just pissed’: Tejaswin Shankar’s bronze, his 1500m revenge and what comes next

India’s Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in the decathlon with a total of 7934 points, adding a second Asian Games medal to the silver he won at Hangzhou 2023. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

At the start of the final event of the men’s decathlon at the Asian Games, the 1500m, Tejaswin Shankar already knew where he would be on the podium.

Gold was certainly out of the question, with Japan’s Yuma Maruyama 194 points ahead. Silver was unlikely unless China’s Chen Xinghua, who had a 105-point lead over Tejaswin, suffered a dramatic collapse. Tejaswin himself was 94 points ahead of Uzbekistan’s Nodir Norbaev.

The Indian knew he was going to get a bronze.

Unlike the other nine events, which mostly test power and technique, the 1500m is primarily a test of cardiovascular ability. It is difficult for a decathlete to make up a large points deficit in the event. At Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium, this race was, for all practical purposes, going to be four victory laps for Maruyama.

But even with the medals all but decided, the 27-year-old decided to push himself.

Maruyama ran into the lead. Tejaswin followed close behind. On the last lap, he moved in front, pipping the Japanese at the finish line, 4:33.09 to 4:33.92.

“At that point, it was not about the medals, but about the fact that Yuma beat me at the Asian Indoor Championships in the last 1km. There was a reel of that race where he finished ahead of me on the finish line that’s got a lot of likes. So whenever I see that reel, I feel like I couldn’t win that 1km even after winning the gold,” he says. “So I created this little competition in my head. Throughout the 1500, when he was in the front, that was what was going on in my head. I have to catch him, and in the end, wahi paani usko pilaunga (I’m going to make him feel the same thing),” he says.

That little win was one of the few things Tejaswin says he will take from the Asian Games.

It was his second medal in the event, following his silver in Hangzhou, but it is not a result he is happy with. ‘Not happy’ is the polite version of how Tejaswin feels.

“I’m just pissed at this point. I’m so disappointed with the bronze medal. I just lost that silver. I’m pretty pissed. It’s a lost opportunity for a gold, a lost opportunity for a silver. So here I am settling for a bronze medal,” he says.

Unlike other athletes who blamed the rainy conditions for making it difficult to compete, Tejaswin couldn’t even get those words out of his mouth.

“I think (my performance) was pretty bad. It’s really bad. I can’t even make up things to be able to justify this performance other than the fact that halfway through day two, I was thinking that I’ll just be done with competing for this year. So that’s the truth,” he says.

Why did that feeling come to him?

“The reality is the decathlon is such a physical event, but at the same time, it’s very, very mental,” he said. There are only so many decathlons an athlete can do in a given year. Tejaswin pointed out that the athletes who finished ahead of him had probably done two, maximum three, decathlons in the season.

Yuma, who won the Asian Games gold medal, had done one decathlon in April. He started another in May, but did not finish it. The Asian Games was only his second completed decathlon of the year.

Tejaswin, by contrast, had competed throughout the season, taking part in four decathlons.

“I’ve been going on since 30th of January and, not blaming anybody, I had to do it. I needed to get that performance, needed to get that practice, so I did four this year. I’m so glad AFI (Athletics Federation of India) allowed me to skip the Inter-State Championships otherwise, I would have scored 7200 points here. I’m thankful they bent the selection policy a little bit,” he says.

There is, however, a positive way for Tejaswin to view the season. “Last year my national record was 7826 or something like that. This year, every one of my decathlons that I’ve done has been over 7900 points. So that in itself speaks of improvement for me,” he said.

But Tejaswin now wants to be consistent at a higher points total. “I just have to find another 300 points and try to add all the good things that I did throughout the year into one meet, and there is your 8300-point total score, which is going to qualify you for Worlds or whatever that is. So that’s what my next challenge is going to be, but for now it’s just to take rest,” he says.

Rest, he knows, will be crucial if he is to make another push towards the World Championships and the Olympics. “I feel like it’s very important to be able to do that, especially if I aspire to go to the World Championships next year or if I want to go to the Olympics the following year,” he said. “I can’t be doing five decathlons in a year and then expecting 8400 points at the end of it and qualify for the Olympics, because at this point in September, my whole motivation was that I wanted to take a break. But this year I didn’t have any option. It was just me and my greed to do more. And I guess it paid off,” he says.

Tejaswin finished the final event, the 1500m, in first place with a time of 4:33.09, earning 724 points. Japan’s Yuma Maruyama won gold with 8123 points, while China’s Chen Xinghua took silver with 8012. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

For now, there is plenty to keep him occupied.

He has a medal ceremony the next day. But before that, there is work waiting for him at Kansas State University, where he is a teaching assistant. “I have my school duties. I have to go grade my assignments. I’m going to start doing that tonight and then hopefully have that done by the weekend so that the kids have their grades by Monday morning. That’s what’s going to keep me busy tonight,” he says.

Later, there is also his knee to attend to.

Tejaswin was injured during the Commonwealth Games two months ago, and one of his main objectives in Nagoya was to try to fix the problem. “The whole goal was to try and fix the knee because that’s what bothered me in the Commonwealth Games. The most potent formula for injury is when it’s cold, and you’re not warmed up and all that sort of thing, which is exactly what presented itself in Nagoya also. Maybe it wasn’t very cold during the high jump, but it took me two hours to warm up and get to the competition jump. So we have to find a strategy. Now that I’m in my off-season starting this very second, I think we’ll have a lot of time to fix this issue and come back stronger next year,” he says.

And Tejaswin will be back because, for all his frustration with the bronze medal, he still hasn’t fallen out of love with athletics. “I hate myself for not winning a silver, but I don’t hate the sport. I absolutely enjoy the sport,” he said. “As soon as I finished my javelin throw, I just stood there and watched Harita(Bhadra) win a bronze medal. Unnathi (Bolland) ran really well. Animesh (Kujur) did really well in that final with Puripol Boonson. So these are all things that I strive for,” he says.

There was something else that made this Asian Games particularly special. Tejaswin’s coach, Kip Janvrin, had flown from United States of America to watch him compete. “He’s Mr. 8000. He’s one of the greatest decathletes to ever live. He’s had 26 decathlons in which he’s scored over 8000 points. For Kip Janvrin to fly from America and watch me compete in a decathlon in itself is a dream come true for me,” he says.

Then there was Gregory, one of the athletes Tejaswin coaches in Kansas. The 14-year-old had made a T-shirt with Tejaswin’s name on it and, along with his father, had come to support him. “I’m pretty stoked to be in a position where so many people love me and appreciate my performance. So that’s bigger than any medal for me,” he says.

Published on Sep 28, 2026

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