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The Athletics Federation of India (AFI)'s refusal to acknowledge India’s promising high jumper Tejaswin Shankar's recent performance of 2.27m achieved in Eugene, USA, for the Commonwealth Games selection, has certainly exposed the fragile relationship between elite athletes and the National Sports Federation (NSF).
The fact that Shankar had to knock on the doors of the court for his inclusion in the Commonwealth Games squad indicates he must have been seriously hurt by his exclusion. It would also be unfair to call the AFI selection panel, headed by former great athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, biased.
With the Commonwealth Games around the corner, will Shankar get another chance to showcase his talent, remains a pertinent question.
But what is exciting is that Shankar believes he will be a medal contender at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, starting July 28, as only two other high jumpers from the Commonwealth countries have done better than him this year.
Predicting performance in competitive sports at any level is the most unpredictable thing to happen. Going by the World Athletics ranking table on June 14, 2022, Shankar was in 39th position. Half a dozen athletes from Commonwealth nations are ranked above him. Canada’s Django Lovett is ranked fifth as of June 14, while New Zealand’s Hanish Kerr and Australian Brandon Starc are ninth and 10th respectively.
Malaysia’s Nauraj Singh Randhawa (26th), Joel Clarke Khan of England (35th) are the other athletes ranked above Shankar.
In track and field competitions, there are qualification rounds. Then there is the final. What matters is how an athlete performs on a given day.
Four years ago, Shankar’s debut at the Commonwealth Games in Australia didn’t go on the expected lines.
In 2018 March, Shankar improved the national high jump record to 2.28m in a domestic meet in Patiala. Nearly three weeks later, during the April 4-14 Commonwealth Games in Australia, Shankar’s sixth-place performance was only 2.24m. He failed to repeat his Patiala performance of 2.28m in Australia and couldn’t clear 2.27m in all three of his attempts.
Australia’s Brandon Starc won gold at 2.32m, a personal best. The silver went to Bahamas’s Jamal Wilson for 2.30m, which was his season-best. Canada's Django Lovett took home bronze at 2.30m, a personal best.
However, a fortnight later, Shankar further raised the bar to 2.29m, which is the current national record. A fluctuation in performance points to the unpredictable nature of sports. Since 2018, Shankar hasn’t touched 2.29m height in competition.
Indian high jumpers weren’t successful on their home ground at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. India’s Hari Shankar Roy and Nikhil Chittarasu finished 11th and Nikhil 13th, respectively, in the field of 14 competitors.
Roy’s best jump in the final was 2.15m, which he cleared on his second attempt, while he missed all three jumps at 2.20m. Donald Thomas of the Bahamas was first with 2.32m, Trevor Barry, also of the Bahamas, was second at 2.29m, and Kabelo Kgosiemang of Botswana finished third at 2.26m.
India didn’t field a high jumper at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Derek Drouin of Canada won gold at 2.31m. Kyriakos Ioannou of Cyprus took silver with 2.28m, while Michael Mason of Canada won bronze at 2.25m.
Shankar’s four-year athletics scholarship at Kansas State University ends this year. The Indian high jumper began his 2022 season with a 2.20m jump in March at the NCAA Indoor Birmingham, Alabama. In April, during a competition in Texas, he scaled 2.22m.
On June 10, Shankar won the NCAA Outdoor men’s high jump title in Eugene with 2.27m, which was at par with the Commonwealth Games qualification mark.
The NCAA dates clashed with the National Inter-State Athletics Championships held in Chennai from June 10-14, which were the final selection trials for the Commonwealth Games. Shankar skipped the Chennai meeting.
When contacted, he disconnected the call, promising to call back. Thereafter, he didn’t respond to repeated calls or text messages.
