Pole vaulters Meena and Kumar set new national record at 5.45m

Two Madhya Pradesh pole vaulters, Dev Kumar Meena and Kuldeep Kumar, set a new national record by clearing 5.45 meters at the 29th National Senior Athletics Federation Competition in Ranchi on Sunday, comfortably surpassing the Commonwealth Games qualification mark of 5.25 meters. The previous national record of 5.41 meters had been set by Kuldeep Kumar earlier this month in Bhubaneswar. In a closely contested final, Dev Kumar Meena took the gold medal on countback, while Kuldeep Kumar settled for silver. Both athletes are training partners and close friends)Skip. Their next goal is to replicate their performance at the international level. “It was a good day for us, and we will continue to push each other to further raise the bar in future,” Dev Kumar Meena said after the event.

However, the historic achievement was followed by a logistical struggle. After the competition, the two athletes were seen pleading with an e-rickshaw driver to transport their fiberglass poles, which are essential for their sport. They had to convince the driver that the poles were made of plastic before he agreed to carry them, and the equipment was tied securely to the vehicle for transit. This...