Credit: Twitter
The 24-year-old Tejaswin Shankar won silver in the decathlon at the Asian Games 2023 on Tuesday to become India's first medal winner in the 10-event competition at the Asiad since 1974. Ahead of his medal-winning performance, the Delhi boy sought India's golden boy Neeraj Chopra's advice for the javelin throw event in the decathlon.
Tejaswin amassed 7666 points in the decathlon on Tuesday to clinch the silver medal and also broke the national record with his medal-finishing performance.
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Ahead of his event, Tejaswin Shankar recorded a video while interacting with Indian star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. In the video, Shankar asked Neeraj to give him some tips for throwing the javelin and the reigning Olympic champion said, "Believe in yourself when you throw the javelin because you can't change the technique or anything else in just one day. So, continue with your technique."
Watch the video here:
Notably, Tejaswin took the sport barely months ago and went on to win India's first medal in decathlon since Vijay Singh Chauhan, who won gold in decathlon at the Asian Games 1974. The 24-year-old also broke the national record which was set by Bharatinder Singh (7,658 points) in 2011.
After winning the medal, Tejaswin told the media, "I am very happy with my score, any day is a different tale. But I won’t at least expect you to ask me when I will reach 8000 aggregate points, it is fine if that (kind of question) remains to Neeraj Chopra (on when will he reach 90m) only."
He added, "I was expecting a little bit more but (satisfied) considering my physicality. I was struggling right after the shot put (third of the 10 events), I had a cramp. After that, it was about managing myself and ensuring that I finished the decathlon and won a medal rather than worrying about the total score. Still, I am happy that I made a national record."
