High jumper Tejaswin Shankar proved his all-round credentials in track and field when he broke a 14-year old school pentathlon record. The Indian won four out of five events in the Carol Robinson/Attila Zsivoczky Pentathlon at Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, on Friday.
The 20-year-old clocked a personal-best time of 2:41.62 seconds in the 1000m race to score 885 points on the final day which gave him a record total of 4,137 points. The previous record was 4,116 points and stood for 14 years. Shankar also improved on his last year’s pentathlon score of 3,826 by over 300 points.
“First of all, coming into the competition, I had a goal of 4,250 [points] and I knew the school record was 4,116 [points],” Shankar was quoted as saying on the Kstate website.
“In the 1000 [meter race], I had to get around 2:43 to get close to the record and when I was able to get 2:41 I knew I got the record. It came down to the high jump as well as I needed to get to 2.23 meters in order to give myself a chance heading into the last event. It went down well and the training has been really critical towards today’s events.”
Shankar began his quest for 4250 points with a personal best time of 8.31 seconds in the 60m hurdles but finished second behind Oscar Smith.
He then went on to win the long jump (6.86m/22-06.25), shot put (11.49m/37-08.50) and high jump (2.23m/7-03.25) events before finishing with a flourish in the 1,000m runs.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!