High jumper Tejaswin Shankar heads to Europe for Continental tour, aims for Olympics qualification

New Delhi: The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) in their recent meeting approved Commonwealth Games medallist Tejaswin Shankar’s request for financial assistance towards participation in continental tour events in Europe.

Tejaswin wants to compete in Belgium’s High-jump Gala Elmos, which is a Category D event, followed by the International Athletic Meet, Hvezdy Nehvizdy in the Czech Republic which is a Category B event, the Ministry informed in a release on Thursday.

By competing at these Continental Tour events, Tejaswin aims to gain important ranking points that will help him improve his world rankings and qualify for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

Tejaswin, who won the bronze medal in the high jump at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (2022) and later a silver medal in Decathlon at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is making a comeback to the high jump, to qualify for the Olympic Games.

He is currently training at Kansas State College, USA under Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) funding and will be heading to Belgium followed by the Czech Republic, later this month. His airfare, boarding/lodging, and local transport costs among other expenditures for these events would be covered under TOPS funding.