"Moving in direction of becoming complete decathlete": Tejaswin Shankar after winning silver in Decathlon
Oct 03, 2023
Hangzhou [China], October 3 : After winning the silver medal in the Men's Decathlon at the 19th Asian Games, India's Tejaswin Shankar on Tuesday said he is happy with his performance in the event and is moving in the direction of becoming a complete decathlete.
Shankar broke the national record in the men's decathlon with an overall effort of 7666 points to win silver.
"The good thing about Decathlon is after competing in 10 events. Even if you don't do well in one sport, you are satisfied with your performance and results because you cannot do anything more than that. I am happy with my performance...I am now moving in the direction of becoming a complete decathlete. Whatever I could do, I did in this event. I am very satisfied with my High Jump performance. I did what I could and have no regrets," Shankar told ANI.
However, China's Sun Qihao was ahead with 7816 points to take home a gold medal, while Japan's Yuma Maruyama bagged the bronze with a score of 7568.
Ace high-jumper-turned-decathlon athlete Shankar top finished in the long jump, his pet event high jump and 400m. He overcame the previous Indian men's decathlon national record by eight points. However, he finished fifth in the javelin throw, shot-put, and 100m hurdles, his normally weakest disciplines, and sixth in the pole vault.
Shankar said as an athlete he aims to win a coveted medal for his country, giving the best performance.
"Injuries should be behind the scenes. And our only aim is to give our best performance and forget about all these things. When I am wearing the Indian jersey, the only aim is to win the coveted medal and that is what I tried to do," Shankar said.
India are on course to break their medal tally record at the Asian Games after an action-packed Day 10 at Hangzhou. India won 70 medals at the Asian Games 2018, the most ever in the continental event. With five days of medal events remaining at the Asian Games 2023, India now has 69 medals.
