Elangovan Sets New Record with 4.22m Pole Vault at National Indoor Athletics

Bhubaneswar: Tamil Nadu’s 29-year-old international pole vaulter Baranica Elangovan was the cynosure of all eyes on the opening day of the first edition of the National Indoor Athletics Championships at Indoor Stadium in Bhubaneswar, setting a new national record on Tuesday.

Baranica raised the bar to 4.22m to set a national record in the women’s pole vault. The previous national record of 4.21m was set by Rosy Meena Paulraj in 2022 in Bengaluru.

“It’s a good day for me to enter my name in the record books,” a jubilant Baranica said in a post-competition interaction. “I’ve been trying hard to cross 4.20m in the past, but Tuesday turned out to be a lucky day for me.”

She made an attempt to further raise the bar to 4.25m, but wasn’t successful in clearing the height.

Away from the pole vault arena, there was an exciting duel in men’s long jump between Praveen Chithravel of Tamil Nadu representing JSW and Odisha’s Sarun Payasingh.

But it was the 25-year-old Payasingh who clinched the gold medal in the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.80m, a personal best. Odisha’s newly crowned champion was excited to have won gold in front of the home crowd. IANS

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