Tejaswin Shankar won a bronze medal in the men's high jump event on Wednesday in Commonwealth Games for India to write his name in the history books. In the process, Shankar, a national record holder, became the first Indian to win a medal for the nation in the high jump event in Commonwealth Games history.
Shankar's 2.22m attempt helped him finish third on countback, thus securing a historic bronze medal for India in the event. Notably, the national record holder was a last-minute addition to India's contingent for athletics.
Elsewhere, Shankar's rivals Donald Thomas, and Joel Clarke-Khan had also cleared the 2.22m jump, but since they required more than one attempt to achieve the same, the Indian athlete came out on top.
READ| CWG 2022: Indian Women's cricket team beat Barbados by 100 runs to confirm semifinal berth
The 23-year-old could not better his tally of 2.25m in his two attempts, he even attempted a jump of 2.28m to try and clinch the silver medal, but he was unsuccessful in his bid.
Before this, the closest an Indian athlete got to a medal in the high jump at CWG was Bhim Singh, who in CWG Edinburgh back in 1970, cleared his best effort of 2.06m.
.
"I had a long (US) collegiate season and started jumping in January but getting a bronze here is like a dream come true and I'm just happy to take something back home with me," an elated Shankar said.
Shankar had finished sixth in the 2018 Gold Coast edition with a best jump of 2.24m.
READ| CWG 2022: World Champion Nikhat Zareen advances to semi-finals in women's boxing light flyweight category
Shankar, who was added to the Indian athletics squad on the orders of the Delhi High Court, has a season's best of 2.27m and a personal best of 2.29m.
Hamish Kerr of New Zealand won the gold while Australia's Brandon Starc clinched the silver. Both cleared 2.25m but could not soar over 2.28m but the Kiwi won the gold on countback.
With inputs from PTI
