avishek.roy@htlive.com
New Delhi: Three years after he gave up sprinting and took up pole vault, Dev Kumar Meena set a national record at the Uttarakhand National Games on Monday. The 19-year-old from Madhya Pradesh cleared 5.32m, improving on S Siva’s record of 5.31m set in 2022.
Meena started as a sprinter at his village of Kheda in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, switching to pole vault in 2021 at the insistence of coach Ghanshyam Yadav, a former pole vaulter who trains him at the Tatya Tope Academy in Bhopal — a state government-run institute.
The teenager has impressed with his progress. He won bronze at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships (U-20) in Dubai last year, clearing 5.10m. He cleared 5.20m at the Indian Open U-23 meet in Patna last year. He won gold at the Senior National Federation Cup last year and competed in the 2024 World U20 Championships in Lima.
This time, he was defending the title from the last National Games in Goa.
“I had attempted the national record at the India Open U23 Championships in Patna, but could not clear it. I am happy I was able to do it here,” Meena said.
Coach Ghanshyam has played an important role in his career, convincing Meena to take up the discipline. Ghanshyam, who is only 28-years-old, competed in the All India Inter University and Junior National meets but could not continue in the sport. However, the passion to do something for the sport led him do an NIS coaching course and also clear the World Athletics level 1 course. He was then looking for young talent for the Bhopal academy. He is currently studying biomechanics.
“The last four years I have been gaining knowledge in pole vault. Nobody wants to do pole vault because people think it’s difficult. Meena used to sprint. He is tall and strong and has a flexible body. It took me some time to convince him and his family to take up pole vault,” says Ghanshyam.
Meena stayed with Ghanshyam and trained outside of the academy for a year and prepared himself. “It was bit of a struggle in the beginning. I had no experience of pole vault, so I had to show performance before I was taken in the academy. Things have been easier after that,” says Meena.
The state academy in Bhopal, where Ghanshyam trains four pole vaulters, has been a big support. “They are showing good results. The state government also appointed a Cuban coach a few months ago.”
Before they left for Dehradun, Ghanshyam made one request to officials of state sport department — to give them a letter to carry their poles in train without restrictions. “We often face issues in train because of our long poles (5m). Last time, one TT abused me so much. However, this time since we had a letter, the journey from Bhopal to Delhi and Dehradun was comfortable.”
