India, Aug. 5 -- It's been just over a day since Tejaswin Shankar landed from Poland after rewriting his decathlon national record at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial meet, but he has little time or desire to celebrate. Tejaswin's focus has already shifted to his next target, although he does appreciate the significant box that he has ticked.

"I can see 8000 on the horizon," he said, confident after aggregating 7826 points in the gruelling 10-event competition. His previous national mark of 7666 points was logged in humid Hangzhou while winning silver at the 2023 Asian Games.

It's a mark that will not instantly put him in the global spotlight considering that the Asian record stands at 8725 points and the Asian Games record is 8384, both...