Pole vaulter Dev Meena breaks national record

New Delhi: Pole vaulter Dev Meena broke the national record for a second time this season, showing promise in one of the toughest disciplines in athletics.

The 19-year-old from Madhya Pradesh scaled 5.35m to create a new national record at the National Federation Senior Athletics Championships in Kochi on Tuesday. This was the second time in recent months that Meena has shattered the national mark. At the 38th National Games in February, Meena cleared 5.32m to set a new record. Though Meena fell short of the qualifying mark (5.51m) for the Asian Championships, he was looking ahead to the season.

“I wanted to raise the bar but there was light drizzle and I didn’t continue on the advice of my coach. It was not gripping and could have led to injury,” said Meena. “I am looking forward to the World University Games and want to qualify for the Asian Games next year,” he said.

It is only a little over three years that Meena started pole vaulting, switching from sprint, but the youngster is taking big strides. He never thought of trying pole vault but coach Ghanshyam Yadav convinced him to take up the sport. Coming from Kheda in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, Meena has been training in Bhopal. The pole vault academy run by Madhya Pradesh State Sports Department provides him with the facilities to train and compete.

“I was searching for talents when I saw Dev in a competition. I asked him whether he would like to do pole vault but he was not ready. He told me the equipment would be costly and his family would not be able to afford it,” recalls Ghansyam.

It took some convincing before Dev joined the Tantya Tope Academy in Bhopal. Everything from his stay, travel, diet and equipment is being taken care of by the MP sports department. There are close to 10 pole vaulters in the academy. Dev has won the National Games title twice and has started to make a mark at the international level as well. He won bronze at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships (U-20) in Dubai last year, clearing 5.10m and also competed at the 2024 World U20 Championships in Lima. These experiences have helped him progress and raise the bar.

“He could have crossed 5.40m today but because of rain and wind, we decided not to take more attempts. It is important to stay injury-free. He is very dedicated and disciplined and has a big career ahead of him,” said Ghanshyam, a former pole vaulter who has done a World Athletics coaching course and looks after young talent in the MP academy.

The academy has now brought in former international Angel Eduardo Garcia Esteban of Cuba to train Dev and the other trainees. “I am learning so many new things form him. He has changed my strides on the runway, and other technical changes like bending the pole etc. The workouts are very interesting. It has given me lot of confidence and you can see the result here,” said Dev.