Tejaswin Shankar smashes decathlon national record for second time

Warsaw [Poland], July 28 (ANI): Indian athlete Tejaswin Shankar broke his own national decathlon record for the second time, securing 7,826 points to finish in the fourth spot during the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial 2025 athletics meet held in Poland on Sunday.

The 26-year-old athlete upgraded from his previous performance of 7,666 points, which earned him an Asian Games silver back in 2022 at Hangzhou and broke Bharatinder Singh national record, which had been there since 2011, as per Olympics.com.

With Shankar at fourth spot, the title was lifted by Czechia Ondrej Kopecky, who set an all-time meet record with 8,254 points, followed by compatriot Vilem Strasky (8136) and Estonia Risto Lillemets (8107).

The Indian athlete was leading the field on the first day of competition with 4,292 points, but fell off the ladder on day two.

Previously a high jumper before transitioning to decathlon in 2022, Tejaswin still has the national record of 2.29 m at the event and aced both jump events (high and long). He also secured his personal bests of 4:31.80 and 11.01 in the 1500m and 100m races, respectively.

This competition marked his first major outing on European soil in the decathlon.

Earlier this year, Tejaswin secured a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships, improving on the bronze secured way back in 2023 at Bangkok. (ANI)

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