Tejaswin Shankar stuns Olympic medalist McEwen to win high jump title

Indian athlete Tejaswin Shankar won the men's high jump at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational, beating Olympic silver medalist Shelby McEwen. Shankar's winning jump of 2.26m marked his best performance in three years and secured the gold.

India's Tejaswin Shankar pulled off a shocker, outclassing Olympic and World Indoor Championships silver medalist Shelby McEwen to secure the men's high jump title at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational 2026 athletics meet held in Manhattan, Kansas on Saturday. The 27-year-old Indian athlete recorded the best mark of 2.26 metres to secure the top spot, according to Olympics.com.

Shankar's Winning Performance

At the second spot was Shelby, who had his season-best jump of 2.22 m, while fellow American Devin Loudermilk was also placed at third spot, with the same jump of 2.22 m. This also marks Tejaswin's best jump in three years, having touched the 2.26 m in 2023 during the Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.

Tejaswin is a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, and he started off with a 2.05 m jump, before going higher with a 2.10 m effort in second attempt. He also made jumps of 2.14m, 2.18m and 2.22m before the winning jump.

Record Attempt and Season Context

Tejaswin also holds the national record in high jump, 2.29 m, which he made back in 2018. He tried to outdo himself and establish a new record, but failed in all attempts of 2.30m. The competition is a World Athletics Indoor Tour Bronze-level meet and marked Tejaswin's second competition of the season after the Thane Baker Invitational in Manhattan on January 16. At the Manhattan meet earlier in January, he participated in the 60 m hurdles and shot put events. Tejaswin also holds the national record in decathlon. (ANI)

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