Born to throw, record-breaking Shot Putter Tejaswini scales new heights

Bengaluru: A certain Rao Ganesh Janardhan was left stunned when the bodybuilder saw his three-year-old daughter, Tejaswini G Rao, lift a 10kg dumbbell and ask if she could continue his routine. At that moment, Ganesh, an inspector with the Bengaluru City Police, knew his child possessed something special.

Her hyperactive nature only strengthened the belief of her parents, including her mother Shweta, that sport would be the ideal outlet for her energy. Gymnastics appeared to be the perfect fit, with its physical demands matching Tejaswini’s agility and enthusiasm. Fate, however, had different plans for the youngster.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought gymnastics training to a standstill as sporting activities across the country came to a halt, forcing Tejaswini to look elsewhere. That search eventually led the family to experienced athletics coach Kanthamma, who decided to test the youngster across multiple disciplines.

“It’s something I do with most of my young students,” says Kanthamma, a former national-level middle-distance runner. “In Tejaswini’s case, she turned out to be good in shot put and high jump as she was strong with her throws and was taller than many girls of her age.”

By the age of 14, Tejaswini had already grown to 5 feet 9 inches but it was her exploits in shot put that truly stood tall.

Last year in Shivamogga, she produced a throw of 11.84 metres to rewrite Karnataka’s U-14 record. The teenager was far from done, improving her personal best to 12.11m while competing against older athletes at the Indian U-16 Championships in Bhubaneswar.

Her progress continued through the season as she pushed her mark further to 13.13m at the SGFI Championships while representing St Mary’s Girls’ High School, Millers Road, Vasanthanagar. Behind those impressive numbers lies a disciplined routine, with Tejaswini travelling nearly two kilometres from her home in Vasanthanagar to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium twice every day to train under two different coaches.

The evenings are reserved for agility and mobility work with Kanthamma, while her mornings begin at 6 am with technical training under Karnataka’s Arjuna Awardee SD Eshan. Between the two training sessions are her school hours, with Tejaswini often struggling to make it to her 8 am classes on time.

“My school has been very supportive of me since I performed well in competitions but at the beginning there were slight confusion,” says Tejaswini, who turns 15 in June. “Since the school wasn’t aware that I am getting late many days due to my training, I was getting scolded. Being a kid, I couldn’t convince them either but they understood my mother went to the school and explained. They always had my back ever since.”

That support has only fuelled Tejaswini’s growing ambitions as she now sets her sights on the next big milestone in her career.

“I want to qualify and perform well at the U-18 Asian Championships (in China in 2027), that’s something I have been aiming for before I think of anything else,” says the teenager, who is also preparing for her board exams.