Tejaswin Shankar won bronze in the men’s high jump final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Wednesday, which India’s first-ever medal in the discipline.
Tejaswin Shankar did not have trouble clearing 2.5m and 2.10m in the opening two jumps. then 2.19m and 2.22m quite easily on first try. He though failed to clear 2.25 but clinched the bronze medal after being quicker to jump 2.22m against the fourt-placed athlete. He attempted 2.28m on his last jump but failed.
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Tejaswin, who is the national record holder Shankar had been ignored for the Commonwealth Games but got a last-minute entry into the CWG as the organisers accepted his entry at the request of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), ending a month-long drama surrounding his participation.
The organisers had initially rejected Shankar’s late entry but the IOA has now got confirmation from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Birmingham CWG organisers about acceptance of his entry after a Delegate Registration Meeting (DRM). The IOA has informed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) about the development.
The IOA had made a request to the Birmingham organisers for the late inclusion of Shankar but it was rejected on July 7. However, the organisers made a U-turn on Friday and allowed the Delhi high jumper to participate in the quadrennial event.
Shankar, who has returned home from the USA where he is studying, will now have to quickly arrange for his visa to be able to reach Birmingham on time.
Shankar had filed a petition at the Delhi High Court challenging the decision of the AFI to exclude him from the team, contending that he reached the qualification guidelines of the AFI by jumping 2.27m at the NCAA Championships in USA, where he is studying.
India have already won one bronze in weightlifting, with Lovepreet Singh in men’s 109kg, bronze in squash men’s singles from Saurav Ghosal and silver from Tulika Maan in Judo Women +78 kg and bronze from weightlifter Gurdeep Singh in the men’s 109+kg category on Day 6 of 2022 CWG.
India’s medal tally is now 17 – five gold, five silver and seven bronze.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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