Tejaswin Shankar is one of a kind, has a Whatsapp message pinned on Asian Games goal: Wayne Lombard

Boria Majumdar

Why is Tejaswin Shankar special? How the mentality of the Indian athletes has changed. In an interview with RevSportz, Wayne Lombard, the Head of Athletic Performance, gives the low-down. Excerpts:

Q: Let me come to Tejaswin Shankar. His performance in Glasgow was remarkable. Are you closely monitoring him, particularly with the Asian Games coming up? And how far do you think he can go, ultimately with LA 2028 as the bigger target?

A: From a slightly biased perspective, TJ is one of a kind. Not just as an athlete, but in the way he thinks about daily life and approaches his programme.

I’m in contact with TJ every day. We’re very close. When he returned, we immediately put a plan together to address his needs. He is now micro-dosing his rehabilitation while getting back onto the track.

The knee is obviously the priority. We need to make sure the tendon remains as quiet as possible. At the moment, touch wood, everything looks really good.

Can he do something amazing at the Asian Games? 100%. I have no doubt. Of course, sport is sport and performance can never be predicted with 100% certainty. But TJ is the type of athlete who leaves no stone unturned. He puts a huge amount of thought, effort and process into what he does.

He actually has a message pinned in our WhatsApp chat about his Asian Games goal. If everything goes to plan, it will be really interesting to share that because it tells you a lot about how he thinks.

Q: You’ve been around Indian sport for some time now. Are you seeing a larger change? For years, we had one TJ, one Abhinav Bindra, one Neeraj Chopra. Are you now seeing India move from individual brilliance towards a more structured, sports science and high performance system?

A: Definitely. If I compare where India was 10 years ago to where it is today, it’s chalk and cheese.

When I first came to India with JSW and later worked with the women’s team, things were very different. Now, SAI centres are taking care of nutrition, recovery, facilities and performance related requirements. There has been a massive change. But more importantly, the mentality of the athletes has changed. There is now a belief that Indian athletes can compete with the best in the world.

Look at Murali Sreeshankar. When he was going through rehabilitation, we spoke about the process. For him to come back mentally from an injury that many people might have thought would prevent them from jumping again was incredible.

We are seeing that mentality in many Indian athletes now. They get injured and their mindset is, ‘Okay, I’ll be fine. I’ll put in the work and come back’.

Of course, you need the support structures around the athlete. But the first step is having an athlete who believes they can improve and is willing to buy into the process. That makes my job and the job of every member of the support staff much easier.

I think that mentality in India has changed and I’ve always said that the potential in Indian athletes, not just athletics, is incredible. We just need to get a system around them that supports them and they’ll thrive.

(Transcript: Abhishek Mishra)

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