A year after he took up the decathlon, Tejaswin Shankar - who holds the national record for the high jump - won bronze at the Asian Athletics Championships. It was only the fourth decathlon of his career, and his first in the event representing India.
After the win, however, Tejaswin was clear about his priorities: he'll compete in the decathlon at the Asian level but says the high jump is his "bread and butter."
Anything but average: Why high jumper Tejaswin Shankar is pushing himself to compete in decathlon
"In the Olympics next year, I want to qualify in the (individual) high jump. In the World Championships also, I want to do the high jump. I am currently at 32nd (31st) in the world rankings (in Road to Budapest) prepared by World Athletics," he said.
Indeed, Thursday's decathlon medal comes a little less than a year since he won silver in the men's high jump at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Tejaswin totalled 7527 points - his lowest total so far [his earlier totals are 7592, 7648, 7576] - but there was a silver lining: he registered personal best efforts in the discus throw [38.14m] as well as javelin throw [52.70m].
He finished first in the long jump, high jump and 400m to finish day one on top with 4124 points, but slipped to the third spot despite doing well in the throws.
"I need further improvement in shot put, pole vault, discus throw and javelin. But I need more competition and more exposure. I am in the decathlon for just one year while my competitors here have been doing it for years," Tejaswin said after the event.
In a chat with ESPN in April, Tejaswin explained how he took up the decathlon to push his limits and also to use it as a means to better his high jump. The 24-year-already holds the high jump national record of 2.29m.
Tejaswin has already met the Athletics Federation of India's qualification standard of 7500 points and qualified for the Asian Games. He also has a good chance of qualifying for the World Athletics Championships before that as he is currently ranked 31st and the top 36 qualify.
Despite recording a new personal best, Tejaswin feels he needs to improve his javelin throw. Back in April, Tejaswin, who's good friends with Neeraj Chopra, said he would ask the Olympic champion for some tips only after crossing the 50m mark.
"I think I'll only send him a video once I get over 50m, abhi toh bezzati ho jayegi [I'll be embarrassed if I send him a video now]. But eventually, I plan on sending some videos, once I reach a certain level. Otherwise, it's going to be humiliating for me, and he will not leave a chance to mock me," Tejaswin had said amidst laughs.
Having gone past the 50m mark in both his last two decathlons and the Asian Games fast approaching, now might be the best time for Tejaswin to ring up his good friend. And he will hope there will be no bezzati this time around.