“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 held by Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Karpov, since 2004 and 2006 respectively. But in a discipline that feeds off incremental, accrued gains, bagging those 174 points that separate him and Mt 8000 will mean a lot.

“You may turn around and say there’s nothing great about 8000, but the fact is, there can never be 9000 without crossing 8000. With proper strategy, I don’t think hitting 8000 points should be a problem before next year’s Asian Games,” he said.

Reaching 8000, Tejaswin said, will unlock “a whole new world” for him — “a level 10 equivalent of video games” — as margins of error as well as room for improvement will significantly shrink.

“I would have exhausted about 90% of my capabilities by the time I touch 8k. As of now, I am operating at 40% of my abilities in events like shot put and javelin. Once I get close to 90%, I will have nothing left in me to focus on really minute aspects. To do that across ten disciplines won’t be easy.”

Tejaswin, who likes to call himself “crazy” for pursuing “an outcast sport”, though has a plan in place, one that prioritises efficiency over excellence.

Spread over two days, decathlon is an excruciating examination of endurance, skill, explosive power and mental fortitude where points are awarded for each event. The first day features 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metres while the second day has 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500 metres. Tejaswin, the national high jump record holder who shifted to decathlon, rates Day 1 as his strong suit with jumps being particularly productive.

“But then, there’s pole vault on Day 2 which is my weak spot. That’s why I tend to remain emotionally balanced even if I have a big lead after the first day. My strategy is not to lose points on my weaker disciplines and gain maximum mileage on my stronger ones.

“We don’t really have to excel at everything. It’s a bit of an antithesis because sport demands excellence, but decathlon tests you in innumerable other ways.”

For Tejaswin, the biggest test comes in pole vault. Having begun decathlon only three years back, the 26-year-old is yet to feel truly comfortable in the discipline, mainly because of the supremely technical and unnatural nature of the sport. A regular pole vaulter begins with smaller poles before gradually moving up, but Tejaswin had to start with the regular 15-foot poles.

“As you age, you become unsure and fearful. Plus, I never had the prerequisite skill to manoeuvre my body over the bar.”

To overcome his shortcoming, Tejaswin headed to Novi Sad town in Serbia, an hour’s drive north of Belgrade, in the first week of July to work with coach Fedja Kamasi. Tejaswin had trained under Kamasi earlier this year in the indoor season ahead of the Asian Championships. With the Poland competition — a World Athletics Continental Gold level meet — high on his agenda, Tejaswin returned to Vojvodina Club to acclimatise and finetune his technique.

So important was the Poland meet for him that Tejaswin planned his entire year keeping that in mind. Eight weeks out from the competition, he started a weekly video series on YouTube documenting his training and progress. The first part of the series was titled ‘8 weeks out to the national record’, giving his followers a glimpse into his ambition as well as confidence.

“It (video series) kept pushing me as I was documenting everything. It wouldn’t have mattered even if I had failed to set the NR, but I wanted to keep a record of my progress,” said Tejaswin, who will be next in action at the Inter State Championships in Chennai from August 22-24.

The world championships in Tokyo next month is beyond reach for now – the qualifying mark is 8550.