Dev Kumar Meena (ANI Image)
Dev Kumar Meena and Kuldeep Kumar produced one of the standout moments of the National Association of Athletics Federations’ senior competition after both athletes broke the national record in the pole vault during a thrilling competition on Sunday. Representing Madhya Pradesh, the two training partners cleared a distance of 5.45 metres, bettering the previous national record of 5.41 metres, set recently by Kuldeep Kumar in Bhubaneswar. Although both athletes achieved the same height, Dev Kumar Meena clinched the gold medal through countback rules, while Kuldeep bagged the silver medal. In the pole vault and high jump events, a countdown is used to separate athletes tied at the same height by checking who cleared the mark in fewer attempts during the competition. The result marked a major milestone for Indian Athletics, with both jumpers also comfortably breaching the Athletics Federation of India’s Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 5.25m for the 2026 edition. Post the event, Dev Kumar highlighted the healthy rivalry and friendship between the duo. “It was a good day for us and we will continue to push each other to raise the bar in the future,” he said. While the spotlight on Saturday was largely on the runners, Sunday’s competition was dominated by field events and several impressive performances.
Murali Sreeshankar took gold in the men’s long jump with an effort of 8.08m, surpassing the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 8.05m. In the men’s high jump, Sarvesh Anil Kochhar produced another outstanding display with a clear of 2.28m to win the gold medal and qualify for the Commonwealth Games. His jump also equaled the record previously held by Tejaswin Shankar. Kuchar even attempted to clear 2.30m in a bid to better the national record of 2.29m, but failed to clear the height on all three attempts.
Silver medalist Aadash Ram also cleared the CWG qualifying standard after clearing 2.22 metres. Meanwhile, national record holder Tejas Shirs dominated the men’s 110m hurdles final. Representing Reliance, Shirse clocked 13.50 seconds to win gold and better his own record of 13.61 seconds, although he narrowly missed the Commonwealth Games qualifying time of 13.39 seconds. Earlier in the day, Raveena clinched gold in the women’s 10,000m race walk after clocking a time of 44:29.66 seconds, comfortably surpassing the CWG qualifying standard of 44:44.58 seconds. Other gold medalists included Dharamraj Yadav in the men’s discus throw and Manpreet Kaur in the women’s hammer throw, while Nandini K won the women’s 100m hurdles title.