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Not every athlete starts with a dream. Some start with a hustle.
Tejas Shirse grew up in Aurangabad, in a farming family with no sports connections. Athletics? He wasn’t even interested.
“I was a mischievous student… good at studies but never liked to sit in class,” Tejas told The Indian Express.
That’s when he discovered hurdles — because training meant he could skip classes.
But what started as mischief soon turned into passion.
And passion came with a price. His family couldn’t afford his training expenses. So Tejas found another way.
He started selling second-hand and replica sports shoes on Instagram. “My job was to find clients. I’d earn around ₹200 to ₹300 per sale. Most buyers were athletes like me who couldn’t afford branded shoes. I did it to support my career,” he added.
The hustle paid off.
Today, Tejas is India’s 110m hurdles national record holder. And just days ago, he clinched gold at the Taiwan Athletics Open 2025, clocking a season-best 13.52 seconds.
@tejasshirse
#TejasShirse #110mHurdles #TaiwanAthleticsOpen #Inspiring #Sports
[Tejas Shirse, Taiwan Athletics Open, Inspiration, Indian athlete]
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