KOLKATA: In January this year, pole vaulter Kuldeep Kumar and teammate Dev Kumar Meena were pulled from their train and briefly detained at Maharashtra’s Panvel railway station after ticket inspectors objected to them carrying their poles inside the coach, referring to the equipment as “steel pipes”.On Saturday, Kuldeep had a befitting reply when he broke the national record by clearing 5.41m at the inaugural Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault in Bhubaneswar.Kuldeep, representing Madhya Pradesh, bettered the previous national mark of 5.40m set by Meena at the World University Games last year.“Not many people know about pole vault in this country, but I’m glad our performances will help take the sport forward,” the 21-year-old from Prayagraj said afterwards, hoping it would ensure no one else had to go through what the pair in Panvel did.Kuldeep’s performance also surpassed Reegan Ganesh’s indoor best of 5.30m achieved during the first National Indoor Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar in March. On Saturday, the Tamil Nadu vaulter finished second with a leap of 5.25m, while Meena endured a subdued climb to third place with a best of 5.20m.“Dev faced a minor setback today but we are both now looking forward to doing even better in the Federation Cup in the coming months and qualifying for the big events,” added Kuldeep.Kuldeep and Meena train together alongside Meena under coach Ghanshyam Yadav at the Bhopal DSYW Academy.His record is a testament to Kuldeep’s consistency throughout the season. Earlier this year, he cleared 5.25m at both the Indian Open Athletics Series and the Indian Open Jumps Competition. He also attempted 5.46m on Saturday but missed all three attempts at the height.“I was confident of going for a personal best. We had prepared thoroughly and kept pushing ourselves, so it was nice to achieve a national record,” Kuldeep said.Coming from a sporting family with three brothers involved in athletics — two of them pole vaulters — Kuldeep said the choice of discipline came naturally. Interestingly, Saturday marked his first indoor competition, an experience he thoroughly enjoyed. “It was a new experience and we were excited about the competition. I am very happy to have achieved a national record here,” he said.Results: Pole Vault: Men: Kuldeep Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 5.41m NR, Reegan Ganesh (Tamil Nadu) 5.25m, Dev Kumar Meena (Madhya Pradesh) 5.20m; U20 Men: Kavinraja S (Tamil Nadu) 4.90m, R Vishal (Tamil Nadu) 4.70m, Saurabh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 4.20m.Medal Image Caption: (From right) Reegan Ganesh, Kuldeep Kumar and Dev Kumar Meena in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
