India's Tejaswin Shankar beats Ex-world champion to win high jump title

BOSTON: Commonwealth Games 2022 bronze medallist Tejaswin Shankar won the men's high jump event at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2023 in Boston, USA on Saturday.

Tejaswin Shankar won the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold competition with a jump of 2.26 metres. He defeated the 38-year-old Donald Thomas of Bahamas, a world champion in 2007, who settled for second place with his best attempt of 2.23m. A four-time Olympian, Donald Thomas was also a Commonwealth Games high jump champion at New Delhi 2010.

There were just four competitors in the high jump competition at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. It included American Darryl Sullivan, who placed third with a season-best mark of 2.19m.

Shankar achieved jumps of 2.14 metres, 2.19 metres, 2.23 metres, and 2.26 metres all on his first attempt. In his final efforts, he attempted to set a new national indoor record of 2.30 metres but was unsuccessful.

Tejaswin Shankar set the country's indoor high jump record in 2018 at 2.28 metres. Tejaswin Shankar also holds the high jump national record for men in India with a height of 2.29 metres.

At Birmingham 2022, Tejaswin Shankar, 24, won bronze in the men's high jump with a leap of 2.22 metres, earning India its first medal at the Commonwealth Games.

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