India’s Tejaswini wins consecutive high jump titles in USA

New Delhi : Representing Kansas State University, India’s Tejaswini Shankar won back-to-back men’s high jump titles in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Manhattan, USA.Shankar, 22, cleared the bar at 2.28m to win high jump gold on Saturday, but his efforts fell short of Tokyo Olympic Games qualification standard of 2.33m.Shankar had also won the men’s high jump title in the 2019 edition of the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships while the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The Delhi-based national record in men’s high jump is studying business administration at Kansas State University. He is on a four-year athletics scholarship since 2017.Shankar had skipped the Federation Cup Athletics Championships in March as the dates clashed with his National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) indoor season. He won the high jump bronze by clearing 2.24m in the NCAA meet.Shankar is the third Indian to compete in the highly competitive USA circuit, the breeding ground for many US track and field Olympians.Triple jumper Mohinder Singh Gill, India’s leading jumper in 1970s, and discus thrower Vikas Gowda are the other Indians to compete in the NCAA.