‘TJ told me to go forward’: How injured Tejaswin Shankar put aside his sorrows to help Sarvesh Kushar make CWG history

Sarvesh Kushare and Tejaswin Shankar during the CWG 2026 High Jump Final in Glasgow. NEW DELHI: Tejaswin Shankar’s own campaign at the Commonwealth Games ended in heartbreak, but the Indian high jumper ensured that his disappointment did not prevent his teammate from making history.The national record holder, forced out of the men’s high jump event by a recurring knee injury, stayed back at the venue to guide compatriot Sarvesh Kushar from the sidelines. That advice proved decisive as Kushare overcame a shaky start to secure a silver medal – India’s best ever result at the Commonwealth Games.Tejaswin won a historic bronze at the 2022 Birmingham Games, the country’s first high jump medal at the Commonwealth Games. But on Monday, the 27-year-old’s title hopes were dashed before they really got going.

From medal contender to coach on the sidelines

Tejaswin felt a sharp pain in his knee during the warm-up and was unable to continue after clearing only his starting height.Instead of leaving the arena, he remained beside the competition area, keeping a close eye on Kushare’s attempts and offering technical inputs to help the Indian recover after he struggled midway through the race.Kushare revealed that Tejaswin’s timely advice changed his competition.“I wanted to clear the height in my first attempt but my rhythm got affected during the 2.25m and my stride got shorter. Then TJ told me to move forward in the run-up and that helped,” said Kushare after winning the silver.The medal improved Tejaswin’s pursuit of bronze from Birmingham and marked India’s best Commonwealth Games finish in the men’s high jump.

‘It really burns’

A visibly emotional Tejaswin admitted that the injury struck at the worst possible time.“I felt a shooting pain in my knee. It happened during the warm-up. It’s nothing new, I’ve always had tendinitis in my knees,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a high jumper that doesn’t have it. That’s why it’s called jumper’s knee. Everyone can do it, and so do I.”The timing of the flare made the disappointment even harder to take.“But it’s one of those days. You just want one day a year where you don’t have that pain, but it just came that day. It really stings. In those conditions, I was really confident that I could jump for the win, jump for the medal. I really knew I could get the medal,” he said. “But to not even get past the first height, it stings because I was in great shape.Explaining the problem further, he added: “It’s just overuse of the patellar tendon. It’s nothing spectacular. It flared up today and ruined my whole competition.”

Eyes now on the return of the decathlon

Despite the setback, Tejaswin did not give up on his Commonwealth Games campaign.The all-rounder remains optimistic he will recover in time for the decathlon, which starts on Thursday.“I’ll be back in two days. We still have two days. I’ll do my best in the next two days and try to fix it. Of course I’ll start. I’m not here on vacation,” he said. “The patellar tendon is used in the high jump and long jump, so if I can somehow overcome that, I’m still confident that the other events will be fine.”Tejaswin is also the national record holder in the decathlon.