Glasgow, A heartbroken Tejaswin Shankar fought back tears after being forced to withdraw from the men's high jump following his opening attempt due to a flare-up of a long-standing foot issue at the Commonwealth Games.
The 27-year-old, who had claimed bronze in Birmingham in 2022, suffered a sharp pain in his knee during the warm-up and could not continue in the competition despite clearing only his first attempt.
Visibly emotional, Tejaswin struggled to compose himself while speaking to reporters after the event.
"I felt a shooting pain in my knee. It happened during my warm-up. It's nothing new; I have always had tendonitis in my knees," he said.
"I don't think there is any high jumper who doesn't have it. That's why it's called jumper's knee. Everyone manages it, and so do I," he said.
Tejaswin said the timing of the injury was particularly cruel as he had arrived in Glasgow believing he was capable of winning another Commonwealth Games medal.
{{/usCountry}}Tejaswin said the timing of the injury was particularly cruel as he had arrived in Glasgow believing he was capable of winning another Commonwealth Games medal.
{{/usCountry}}"But it's one of those days. You want just one day in a year when you don't have that pain, but it came on that day only. It really stings. In these conditions, I was really confident I could jump for a win, jump for a medal. I really knew I could win a medal.
"But to not even get through the first height, it stings because I was in really great shape."
Explaining the injury, he added: "It's just overuse of the patellar tendon. There is nothing spectacular about it. It just flared up today and ruined my entire competition."
Tejaswin, however, remains hopeful of recovering in time for the decathlon, which begins on Thursday.
"I will come back in two days. We still have two days. I'll give my best over the next two days and try and fix this. I will obviously start. I'm not here on vacation.
"The patellar tendon is used in high jump and long jump, so if I'm somehow able to get by those two events, I'm still confident the other events will be fine.
"I am confident I will be able to fix this."
Tejaswin, the coach
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Despite his own heartbreak, Tejaswin stayed back at the venue and switched roles to help compatriot Sarvesh Kushare, whose campaign ended with a silver medal.
Kushare credited Tejaswin's technical advice for helping him regain his rhythm after a shaky start.
"I wanted to clear the height in my first attempt itself, but during 2.25m my rhythm was affected and my stride became shorter. Then TJ told me to move forward in my run-up, and that helped," Kushare said.
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