Commonwealth Games (CWG) medal is spending quality time with family and then starting his job as an accountant in the US, besides planning his high-jump calendar for next year. Before August 3, no Indian track and field athlete could ever jump the bar set high enough to bag a podium-finish at CWG. Shankar, with his effort of 2.22m at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on Wednesday, rewrote that piece of history with a bronze medal around his neck. But it wasn't smooth sailing for him until a month or so ago, when he had to go to court after his name didn't feature in the list of athletes included in India's Commonwealth Games contingent. An NCAA athlete and student of Kansas University, Shankar won the high-jump title there in June this year with a jump of 2.27m and with that achieved the qualification standard for CWG. However, he didn't find his name in the list of Indian contingent. The reason was that he missed competing in the Senior Inter-State Athletics Championships in India. But the Delhi High Court ruled in Shankar's favour after a lot of drama and less than a week before the competition, the Indian Olympic Association gave the green signal and his entry was approved, though he had to still watch the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham Games from his couch at home. Looking ahead to his professional career both on and off the field, Shankar wants to put the past behind him. He revealed those plans and much more in a media interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India and JSW Sports for a select group of journalists, to which TimesofIndia.com was also invited.
