From selling shoes on Instagram, how Tejas Shirse went on to set national record in 110m hurdles

As soon as Tejas Shirse completed his national record-breaking 110m hurdles race at the Monet Grand Prix in Finland on Wednesday, he walked up to his coach James Hillier, embraced the Welshman and poured out his heart in gratitude. Shirse, who clocked 13.41s to erase Siddhanth Thingalaya’s mark of 13.48s, didn’t have the best start with coach Hillier, the athletics director at Reliance Foundation.

“It was quite challenging in the early weeks and months, and he’ll attest that. He’s not the easiest person at times, but he has listened, improved and is now a wonderful young man,” says Hillier, who has been training Shirse since December 2022.

Tejas, who grew up in Aurangabad, comes from a farming family with no link to sports. Neither did he have any innate interest in it. “I was a mischievous student in school. I was good at studies but never liked to sit in class. I realised I could bunk classes if I trained for sports and that’s how it started. I trained for cricket and then athletics,” recalls Shirse.

Congratulations!!
Pride of the Rails, Star of the Tracks!

Central Railway’s Tejas Shirse set a new National Record in men’s 110m hurdles during a World Athletics Continental Tour (Challenger level) meet in Jyvaskyla, Finland on Wednesday.
Tejas Shirke, CCTC with Mumbai… pic.twitter.com/Pa8MnC2XIz

— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) May 23, 2024

He even gave gymnastics a shot in which he medalled at the state level before turning to athletics. Coming from a humble financial background, Shirse soon realised that he would have to do some hustling to meet his training requirements and with the help of some friends, he got into the business of selling shoes on Instagram.

“My job was to find clients and I would get about Rs 200 to 300 per sale. They were mostly athletes like me who needed sports shoes but couldn’t afford branded or new ones. We used to resell copies and used shoes. I did it to support my career since my family didn’t have the means to support me,” says Shirse.

When coach Hillier signed up Shirse in December 2022, the latter wasn’t in the best shape. The 21-year-old was struggling with a lower pelvic muscle injury, a result of unstable musculature (arrangement of muscles) around his hip area. Shirse spent his first 12 weeks in a rehab programme managed by physio Nilesh Makwana, who also works closely with 100mH sensation Jyothi Yarraji.

“It isn’t a common sports injury among men and we traced it to his weak or imbalanced hip muscles. So we put a lot of attention on strengthening his hip area with mobility exercises,” explained Makwana, who will travel with Shirse for Sunday’s race in Brussels.

Adjustment problems

The real challenge began after Makwana gave Shirse the green signal to hit the track. The youngster came with his own training ideology and belief system that didn’t match Hillier’s. It was then that the Welshman, known for his calm demeanour, decided to put his foot down.

“I told him, ‘You might think it’s a privilege to be coaching you, but it isn’t. I have coached 10 athletes faster than you.’ I regretted it but I think it resonated with him,” recalls Hillier.

It was a reality check that Shirse himself believes he needed. “I wouldn’t say I felt bad because there was truth in it. Maine socha baat to sahi hai (I felt there was nothing wrong in what he said). But I didn’t ponder over it. I took it in my stride and thought about what I could do better,” says Shirse, who feels the early tension between them was a result of miscommunication. But Hillier and Shirse now share a strong bond.

Injury sorted, relationship mended – Hillier now feels Shirse is capable of scaling greater heights. “He is a really good kid. He’s got good speed. Technically, he’s getting better and is a voracious competitor; not just in competition, but also in training. He’s got the ability to train at very high intensity. So everything for him is 100 percent or just go back to sleep. He’s got good flexibility since he is from a gymnastics background,” says Hillier.

Shirse is high on confidence after ticking off the national mark – one of his goals he wrote down on a piece of paper before the season began. The second goal is to make the cut for the Paris Olympics, for which he will have to clock 13.27s. “I know it is a very difficult target. But even in today’s race, I made some errors and If I work on them, I can get closer,” he says.

For now, Shirse can take a breather before taking a flight to Brussels for Sunday’s race. The heartwarming interaction he had with coach Hillier will motivate him.

“After the race, he came up to me and said thank you. ‘I know I’m not easy at times and I appreciate you sticking with me,’ he told me. I told him that I am grateful and it was very nice of him to tell me this,” says coach Hillier.

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