A devastating ankle injury nearly ended Tejas Shirse's career. Eight months later, he is back with a national record and a renewed dream of winning Commonwealth Games gold.
In mid-February this year, Tejas Shirse sat down with his physio to hear the kind of news every athlete dreads. An ankle ligament injury, stretched badly, meant surgery was likely off the table only because the damage was severe enough to threaten his career outright. The 24-year-old hurdler, India's fastest man over the 110m hurdles, was staring at the possibility of missing not just a season, but the sport itself.
Eight months later, Shirse is back on the track, chasing something far bigger than recovery, a place at the Commonwealth Games, and with it, a shot at gold.
When the Injury Forced a Reckoning
Shirse's issues actually began earlier, in late 2025, when scans following a race in Poland revealed a stress reaction that doctors initially dismissed as manageable. It wasn't. The injury worsened through an extensive rehabilitation phase that never quite let him rush back to full training. By the time he lined up in Glasgow for what was meant to be a routine race, his body gave way.
"It was late in the season. I thought like, okay, CWG is a lost hope," he admitted, recalling the moment his qualification timeline looked unrealistic and a career-ending fracture seemed like a real possibility.
The next few months were less about training and more about rebuilding trust, in his ankles, and in himself.
"The first thing we worked on making them really strong," Shirse said of his physiotherapy team's approach.
Strength work was followed by a gradual reintroduction to sprint mechanics, with his coach redirecting his energy into simple, controlled drills rather than the explosive intensity his event demands. It was, in his words, "not merely recovery", it was a ground-up rebuild.
A Comeback Measured in Hundredths of a Second
Four months into an injury-induced layoff, Shirse changed his body in ways he hadn't expected. When he finally returned to competition, he clocked 13.27 seconds in the 110m hurdles at the Indian Athletics Series in June, not just a season's best, but a national record. It broke his own earlier mark and confirmed that the rehabilitation had worked.
"I ran exactly that number, ber. Even if it had been 13.26 or 13.28, I would have been happy," he said, underlining how the process mattered as much as the result.
That national record also earned him a place at the CWG trials, though he's clear-eyed about what comes next. Shirse currently sits at a career-best World Ranking of 71 in the men's 110m hurdles, with a season's best of 13.27 seconds and a top-8 finish at the Asian Indoor Championships among his career highlights.
His entry into the men's 110m hurdles marks India's only representation in the event, adding a layer of pressure, and possibility, heading into the Games.
The Mental Game Matters as Much as the Physical One
For an athlete who's been through a fracture scare, the psychological scars run deeper than the physical ones. Shirse spoke candidly about the doubts that crept in during his recovery, the fear of re-injury, the temptation to rush back before his body was truly ready.
"If you rush it, you'll always have doubts. If you're standing on the start line still wondering whether you're going to feel it, that's a problem," he said, describing how patience became as important as any training drill.
His race-day rituals reflect that same discipline. Before races, he limits himself to one or two technical cues, keeping his mind uncluttered. Away from the track, his warm-up routine is instinctive rather than rigid, a small ritual that helps him settle into rhythm before every competition.
Eyes on September, and Beyond
The Commonwealth Games in September now stands as the most realistic target on Shirse's comeback list. He's also eyeing the Asian Games as another milestone, aware that sprint hurdles remain one of the most technically demanding and competitively deep events in Indian athletics. Rivalries within the fraternity, he says, only sharpen the field.
For a hurdler who once wondered if he'd ever compete again, Tejas Shirse's journey from an ankle scare to a national record is a reminder of how fine the margins are in athletics, between injury and comeback, between doubt and belief, and often, between 13.26 and 13.28 seconds.
In mid-February this year, Tejas Shirse sat down with his physio to hear the kind of news every athlete dreads. An ankle ligament injury, stretched badly, meant surgery was likely off the table only because the damage was severe enough to threaten his career outright. The 24-year-old hurdler, India's fastest man over the 110m hurdles, was staring at the possibility of missing not just a season, but the sport itself.
Eight months later, Shirse is back on the track, chasing something far bigger than recovery, a place at the Commonwealth Games, and with it, a shot at gold.
When the Injury Forced a Reckoning
Shirse's issues actually began earlier, in late 2025, when scans following a race in Poland revealed a stress reaction that doctors initially dismissed as manageable. It wasn't. The injury worsened through an extensive rehabilitation phase that never quite let him rush back to full training. By the time he lined up in Glasgow for what was meant to be a routine race, his body gave way.
"It was late in the season. I thought like, okay, CWG is a lost hope," he admitted, recalling the moment his qualification timeline looked unrealistic and a career-ending fracture seemed like a real possibility.
The next few months were less about training and more about rebuilding trust, in his ankles, and in himself.
"The first thing we worked on making them really strong," Shirse said of his physiotherapy team's approach.
Strength work was followed by a gradual reintroduction to sprint mechanics, with his coach redirecting his energy into simple, controlled drills rather than the explosive intensity his event demands. It was, in his words, "not merely recovery", it was a ground-up rebuild.
A Comeback Measured in Hundredths of a Second
Four months into an injury-induced layoff, Shirse changed his body in ways he hadn't expected. When he finally returned to competition, he clocked 13.27 seconds in the 110m hurdles at the Indian Athletics Series in June, not just a season's best, but a national record. It broke his own earlier mark and confirmed that the rehabilitation had worked.
"I ran exactly that number, ber. Even if it had been 13.26 or 13.28, I would have been happy," he said, underlining how the process mattered as much as the result.
That national record also earned him a place at the CWG trials, though he's clear-eyed about what comes next. Shirse currently sits at a career-best World Ranking of 71 in the men's 110m hurdles, with a season's best of 13.27 seconds and a top-8 finish at the Asian Indoor Championships among his career highlights.
His entry into the men's 110m hurdles marks India's only representation in the event, adding a layer of pressure, and possibility, heading into the Games.
The Mental Game Matters as Much as the Physical One
For an athlete who's been through a fracture scare, the psychological scars run deeper than the physical ones. Shirse spoke candidly about the doubts that crept in during his recovery, the fear of re-injury, the temptation to rush back before his body was truly ready.
"If you rush it, you'll always have doubts. If you're standing on the start line still wondering whether you're going to feel it, that's a problem," he said, describing how patience became as important as any training drill.
His race-day rituals reflect that same discipline. Before races, he limits himself to one or two technical cues, keeping his mind uncluttered. Away from the track, his warm-up routine is instinctive rather than rigid, a small ritual that helps him settle into rhythm before every competition.
Eyes on September, and Beyond
The Commonwealth Games in September now stands as the most realistic target on Shirse's comeback list. He's also eyeing the Asian Games as another milestone, aware that sprint hurdles remain one of the most technically demanding and competitively deep events in Indian athletics. Rivalries within the fraternity, he says, only sharpen the field.
For a hurdler who once wondered if he'd ever compete again, Tejas Shirse's journey from an ankle scare to a national record is a reminder of how fine the margins are in athletics, between injury and comeback, between doubt and belief, and often, between 13.26 and 13.28 seconds.
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