Baranica betters own national record with 4.23m vault at Indian Indoor Open Combined Events
If Kuldeep Kumar breaking the men’s pole vault national record on Saturday was not enough, Tamil Nadu’s Baranica Elangovan bettered her own women’s national record by clearing 4.23m at the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Baranica, who had set the previous national record of 4.22m at the Indoor National Championships in April, began with modest clearances of 3.90m and 3.95m before steadily raising the bar.
She then cleared 4.00m and 4.10m on her first attempt before going over 4.23m on her third and final attempt at the height to improve her national mark.
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Earlier this year, Baranica had crossed the 4.10m barrier at the Indian Open Jumps, breaching the Athletics Federation of India’s qualification mark for the Asian Games.
The vaulter is currently chasing the 4.45m qualification mark for the Commonwealth Games.
The results:
Men: Heptathlon:
1. Thowfeeq N. (NCOE, Tri) 5350, 2. Usaid Khan (Army) 5288, 3. Jashbir Nayak (Odi) 5250; U-20: 1. Kirthik Vasan S. (TN) 4609, 2. Jinoy Jayan (NCOE, Tri) 4518, 3. Aryan Prakash (MP) 4509.
Women: Pole vault:
1. Baranica Elangovan (TN) 4.23m (NR, old 4.22m, Baranica, 2026), 2. Nitika Akare (MP) 3.90m, 3. Blessy Kunjumon (Ker) 3.90m; Pentathlon: Elite: 1. Purnima Hembram (Odi) 3835, 2. Isha Chander Prakash (Utk) 3671, 3. Bidisha Kundu (WB) 3600; U-20: 1. Jaskiran Kaur (Utk) 3272, 2. Priya (Har) 3133, 3. Alfaz Kaur Grewal (Pun) 3066.
Published on May 03, 2026