Bhubaneswar, March 24 – Tamil Nadu’s 29-year-old international pole vaulter, Baranica Elangovan, was the center of attention on the opening day of the first edition of the National Indoor Athletics Championships at the Indoor Stadium in Bhubaneswar, setting a new national record on Tuesday.
Elangovan successfully cleared the bar at 4.22 meters, breaking the previous national record of 4.21 meters set by Rosy Meena Paulraj in Bengaluru in 2022.
"It's a great feeling to achieve this," Elangovan said after the competition. "I have been working hard to reach this height, and it feels amazing to finally achieve it."
While Elangovan was focusing on pole vault, there was a close competition in the men's long jump between Tamil Nadu’s Praveen Chithravel, representing JSW, and Odisha’s Sarun Payasingh.
Payasingh ultimately won the men's long jump with a distance of 7.80 meters, a personal best.
The Odisha champion was thrilled to win the gold medal in front of a home crowd.
"My main goal here was to improve my personal best," Payasingh said. "I'm very happy to have achieved that."
Payasingh achieved his best jump of 7.80 meters on his second attempt. His other attempts were 7.78 meters and 7.79 meters.
Earlier, Odisha’s Sports and Youth Services Minister Suraj Suryabanshi inaugurated the competition, saying that the first National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar was a historic event for Indian athletics.
He added that hosting the 2028 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Bhubaneswar would further solidify Odisha's position as the "Sports Capital of India."
Results (Day One):
Men: 800m: Mohammed Afsal (Air Force) – 1:47.86 seconds, Kalyan JR (Karnataka) – 1:53.98 seconds, Sayan Karmakar (West Bengal) – 1:56.98 seconds.
Men: U20: 800m: Lokesh Magendhiran (Tamil Nadu) – 1:53.92 seconds, Rajdip Pal (West Bengal) – 2:02.34 seconds.
Men: 3,000m: Shivaji Parashuram (Reliance) – 8:09.88 seconds, Vinod Singh (Madhya Pradesh) – 8:16.93 seconds, Rahul Kumar Verma (Chhattisgarh) – 8:18.21 seconds.
Men: 60m hurdles: Krishik M (Karnataka) – 7.71 seconds, Rathish P (Reliance) – 7.84 seconds, Muhammed Lazan (JSW) – 8.00 seconds
Men: Long jump: Sarun Payasingh (Odisha) – 7.80m, Praveen Chithravel (JSW) – 7.78m, David P (Railway) – 7.69m.
Men: Shot put: Ravi Kumar (BSF) – 17.17m, Adhish Ghildiyal (Uttarakhand) – 16.92m, Balaji (Tamil Nadu) – 16.74m
Men: U20: Shot put: Ommkar Prasad Nand (Odisha) – 17.77m, SAI Kiran A (NCOE Patiala) – 17.00m, Harshit Gahlot (JSW) – 16.98m
Women: 3,000m: Priyanka C (Karnataka) – 9:42.05 seconds, Kajal Rangnath (Gujarat) – 9:44.01 seconds, Sushmita Tigga (Odisha) – 10:22.30 seconds.
Women: Shot put: Rekha (NCOE Patiala) – 15.63m, Mayuri Arade (Karnataka) – 9.15m.
Women: U20: Shot put: Dona Maria (Kerala) – 13.35m, Khusboo (Haryana) – 12.03m, Akhshaya GR (Tamil Nadu) – 11.89m.
Women: Pole vault: Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) – 4.22m, Blessy Kunjumon (Kerala) – 3.95m, Mariya Jaison (Kerala) – 3.380m.
Women: Long jump: Anamika KA (JSW) – 6.05m, Manisha Merel (Odisha) – 6.04m, Sherin A (JSW) – 5.92m.