Bhubaneswar, March 24: Seasoned Tamil Nadu athlete Baranica Elangovan smashed the overall national record in women’s pole vault event in a stunning performance, clearing a height of 4.22m on the opening day of the National Indoor Championships here on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Baranica, a three-time national outdoor champion, cleared 4.22m to better the earlier national record of 4.21m which has been in the name of Rosy Meena Paulraj since 2022.
Before Baranica’s feat on Tuesday, there was no official national indoor record for women’s pole vault as this is the inaugural national championships.
Blessy Kunjumon (3.95m) and Mariya Jaison (3.380m), both of Kerala, were second and third respectively.
The 4.22m mark of Baranica will now be the national indoor as well as the overall record, and it will just be a formality for the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to ratify it.
The officers of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) took samples from her for dope test after her event, a requirement for ratification of national records.
She went on to further improve her national record but failed three times when the bar was raised to 4.25m.
She credited her coach Milber Bertrand Russell, who has been with her since 2016, for her feat.
Baranica, who is currently with the Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar after shifting base from Chennai in 2023, had made a remarkable comeback from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) surgery on her left leg in 2020.
She said competing indoors is an advantage for pole vaulters as there is no impact of wind.
In other events, local athlete Sarun Payasingh won the men’s long jump gold with a personal best effort of 7.80m.
The 25-year-old Payasingh beat triple jump national record holder Praveen Chithravel of Tamil Nadu, who was competing in long jump here.
Chithravel, who was representing JSW, made only three attempts and left after a best effort of 7.78m which fetched him a silver. P David of Railways was third with 7.69m.
“This is my first indoor competition and winning gold is a big achievement. I was not thinking about the medal but was looking to do my personal best,” said Payasingh, who has been roped in by Reliance.
Born to a farmer at a village in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, Payasingh is currently at the residential hostel attached to the indoor facility. He was earlier at the Sports Hostel in Bhubaneswar from 2016 to 2024 after he was spotted at the talent scouting at the district level.
Meanwhile, Shivaji Parashu Madappagoudra of Reliance became the first gold medallist of the championships, clocking 8 minute 09.88 seconds. Vinod Singh of Madhya Pradesh was second with a time of 8:16.93 while Rahul Kumar Verma of Chhattisgarh took the bronze, cloking 8:18.21.
NADA team arrives to collect dope samples
A team from the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has arrived here for the two-day meet. Dope Control officers were seen requesting athletes to proceed to the sample collection room inside the facility after their events.
The same facility is hosting the 2028 World Indoor Championships. (PTI)
