India’s Pole Vault Revolution: How a Forgotten Event Is Suddenly Rising in Indian Athletics

For decades, Indian athletics revolved around only a handful of disciplines. Sprinting lacked depth, distance running slowly faded after its golden generation, and technical field events rarely entered mainstream sporting conversations.

But over the last few seasons, something remarkable has quietly started unfolding within Indian athletics.

Pole vault once considered one of the country’s most neglected and inaccessible events is suddenly witnessing an unprecedented rise. Young Indian vaulters are now regularly clearing heights that once appeared unimaginable for the country. National records are being rewritten, domestic competition is intensifying, and for perhaps the first time, India is beginning to build genuine depth in one of athletics’ most technically demanding disciplines.

At the centre of this transformation stands Dev Meena.

The Madhya Pradesh athlete has become the face of India’s pole vault revolution after producing a series of performances that have fundamentally changed expectations around the event in the country. Interestingly, Meena did not begin his career as a pole vaulter. He initially competed as a 400m runner before coaches recognised his explosive athleticism and shifted him towards the event.

That decision may ultimately prove historic for Indian athletics. Meena announced himself globally by breaking the Indian national record with a clearance of 5.40m at the 2025 World University Games in Germany. More importantly, the performance was not a one-time breakthrough.

Over the last two seasons, he has consistently cleared heights above 5.25m and even equalled the national record again in Taiwan earlier this year. Consistency is what separates promising athletes from genuine international contenders, and Meena has steadily started building exactly that profile. Yet the bigger story is not only about one athlete.

For the first time in Indian pole vault history, multiple athletes are now competing at elite domestic standards simultaneously. Kuldeep Kumar and C Reegan have both emerged as serious contenders alongside Meena, creating a competitive environment that simply did not exist earlier in India.

Kuldeep recently defeated Dev Meena on countback at the Indian Athletics Series in Jaipur after both athletes cleared 5.25m, underlining how narrow the margins have become at the top level. Kuldeep recenlty bettered the National record with a 5.41m. He set this historic record on May 2, 2026, during the inaugural Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Meanwhile, Reegan’s superb 5.30m effort at the National Indoor Championships in Bhubaneswar made him only the third Indian in history to cross that mark. Until a few years ago, even producing one athlete capable of such heights seemed unrealistic for India. 

Now the country has several vaulters who are raising the bar higher.

That internal competition could ultimately become the biggest reason behind the event’s rapid progress. Historically, many technical events in Indian athletics lacked depth. Often, one athlete would dominate nationally without genuine pressure or competition. Pole vault is now beginning to move away from that structure. Athletes are pushing one another towards higher standards.

The growth is not restricted to the men’s side either.

Indian women’s pole vault is also improving rapidly. Baranica Elangovan recently broke the national indoor record with a clearance of 4.23m, surpassing the previous mark held by Rosy Meena Paulraj. She set this record at the \(1^{\text{st}}\) Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition at the Kalinga Indoor Athletics Stadium in Bhubaneswar

The rise in both men’s and women’s categories suggests that India’s improvement in pole vault is not accidental or dependent on one isolated athlete. It increasingly appears structural.

Several factors are driving this transformation.

One major reason is the broader change in perception around Indian athletics following Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic success. Chopra’s rise transformed how young Indian athletes view technical field events. For the first time, disciplines outside sprinting and cricket started appearing financially viable and internationally glamorous. His success created belief. That belief has had a ripple effect across multiple field events, including pole vault.

Another important factor is improved coaching exposure. More Indian athletes are now working under scientifically structured training systems and foreign technical coaches. Pole vault is an extremely specialised discipline requiring a rare combination of speed, timing, flexibility, body control and courage.

Technical refinement is everything.

Dev Meena’s training under Cuban coach Ángel García is one example of how international expertise is helping Indian athletes close the gap gradually. Infrastructure, while still limited, is also beginning to improve. The launch of India’s Indoor Athletics Championships in 2026 has given vaulters access to more controlled competitive conditions, something especially important in technical events where weather and surface conditions can significantly affect performance.

The Athletics Federation of India has also expanded the domestic competition calendar through the Indian Athletics Series, providing athletes with more opportunities for rankings, exposure and regular competition throughout the season. However, major challenges remain.

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Pole vault continues to be one of the most expensive disciplines in athletics. Equipment costs are enormous, landing pits require maintenance and transporting poles itself remains a logistical struggle in India. In fact, Indian vaulters including Dev Meena were recently fined by railway officials after their vaulting poles were mistaken for steel pipes an incident that perfectly highlighted how little awareness still exists around the sport.

There also remains a considerable international gap. While Indian athletes are now regularly clearing 5.30m and 5.40m, world-class vaulters consistently operate in the 5.80m to 6m range. The distance remains significant.

But perhaps for the first time, India genuinely appears to be moving in the right direction. The clearest sign of progress is ambition itself.

A few years ago, Indian pole vaulters rarely discussed global finals or elite international standards. Today, athletes are openly chasing Asian Games qualification marks and aiming beyond continental competition. Dev Meena recently attempted 5.50m a height that once seemed almost unimaginable for an Indian athlete.

Indian athletics may still be searching for its next Olympic medal outside javelin throw, but pole vault is slowly emerging as a serious long-term possibility.

And with each new clearance, the bar in Indian athletics continues to rise both literally and symbolically.