Tejaswin Shankar’s bid for another Commonwealth Games high jump medal ended abruptly in the early hours of Tuesday in Glasgow. The athlete suffered a recurring knee problem and was forced to withdraw from the event following his opening attempt.
He was believed to be one of the , but his campaign was cut short due to the injury.
Notably, the 27-year-old, who won bronze at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, experienced discomfort during the warm-up before the competition in Glasgow. Although he managed to clear the opening height, the injury prevented him from continuing, leaving his challenge over almost as soon as it had begun.
The setback came at a time when Shankar felt his preparations had placed him in contention for another medal, making the withdrawal an especially disappointing outcome. The long-standing issue, linked to his patellar tendon, resurfaced on the day of competition despite being a condition he has routinely managed throughout his career.
“I felt a shooting pain in my knee. It happened during my warm-up. It’s nothing new; I have always had tendonitis in my knees. I don’t think there is any high jumper who doesn’t have it. That’s why it’s called jumper’s knee. Everyone manages it, and so do I,” Tejaswin told PTI.
Shankar said the injury struck at the worst possible moment after arriving at the Games convinced he was capable of challenging for a medal.
“It’s one of those days. You want just one day in a year when you don’t have that pain, but it came on that day only. It really stings. In these conditions, I was really confident I could jump for a win, jump for a medal. I really knew I could win a medal. But to not even get through the first height, it stings because I was in really great shape,” TJ, as he is popularly called, said after not being able to hold his tears.
“It’s just overuse of the patellar tendon. There is nothing spectacular about it. It just flared up today and ruined my entire competition,” he added, explaining the injury.
Tejaswin positive about Decathlon
Despite the disappointment, the Indian athlete has not ruled out competing in the decathlon, which begins on Thursday. He said his immediate focus will be on recovering sufficiently over the next two days in the hope of remaining competitive across the combined event.
“I will come back in two days. We still have two days. I’ll give my best over the next two days and try and fix this. I will obviously start. I’m not here on vacation. The patellar tendon is used in high jump and long jump, so if I’m somehow able to get by those two events, I’m still confident the other events will be fine. I am confident I will be able to fix this,” Tejaswin said.