San Angelo (USA), March 28 (IANS) Tejaswin Shankar kicked off his decathlon season in impressive fashion at the 2026 David Noble Relays at San Angelo in Texas, USA, claiming victory with a new wind-assisted personal best score of 7947 points.

While Tejaswin’s score at Texas surpassed the previous national record of 7826 points set by him in Poland last year, it will not be recognised as a record according to World Athletics Rules due to excessive tailwinds.

According to World Athletics rules implemented since 2010, performances in combined events like the decathlon can only be considered for records if the average wind assistance during the 100m, long jump, and 110m hurdles remains at or below +2.0m/s.

In Tejaswin’s case, the wind assistance during his events in Texas was +4.7m/s for the 100m, +4.5m/s for the long jump, and +2.5m/s for the 110m hurdles. The average wind speed was +3.9m/s, which disqualifies his performances from being considered record-worthy.

Tejaswin made an impressive start to his decathlon season at the 2026 David Noble Relays in Texas, where he triumphed with a new wind-assisted personal best of 7947 points. The event, governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), follows the same wind-averaging rule for decathlon records.

Throughout the meet, Tejaswin, who also holds the Indian national high jump record, achieved personal bests in multiple events: the 100m (10.59 seconds), long jump (7.66 meters), shot put (13.98 meters), and pole vault (4.35 meters). His performance earned him a clear victory, finishing well ahead of second-place Emil Uhlin, who scored 7773 points, and third-place Dorian Charles, who recorded 7720 points.

This marked Tejaswin’s first decathlon appearance of the 2026 season. Earlier in the year, he had competed in the 60m hurdles and shot put at the Thane Baker Invitational, and also clinched the high jump title at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational in the USA in January.

Additionally, Tejaswin made history in February by setting a new national heptathlon record, securing India’s sole gold medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China.

--IANS

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