Mirzapur pole vaulter Shekhar Kumar Pandey is focused ahead of his inaugural National U23 meet

Mirzapur’s 21-year-old national gold medalist in pole vault, Shekhar Kumar Pandey, has booked his berth for next month’s inaugural edition of the National Under-23 Athletics Championships.

The inaugural edition of the National U23 Athletics Championships is scheduled to be held in Chennai from September 27 to 29. Shekhar will also compete at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships be held in Warangal, Telangana, from September 15 to 19.

Shekhar won the gold medal in the men’s pole vault event held in Allahabad on Tuesday during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh U23 Athletic Championships, to book his berth for the upcoming national competitions.

Shekhar easily cleared a height of 4.80 meters in his first attempt to stamp his authority in the state competition. The Mirzapur pole vaulter made an attempt to scale the height of 5m but failed.

“I could have crossed the 5m mark but it was too hot and humid. I made only one attempt at the 5m mark. I didn’t try again as the landing pit was worn out and it was hurting my back when I was landing,” Shekhar said after missing the 5m mark in the state meet.

In June, Shekhar won a gold medal at the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships held in Patiala. Shekhar said his aim is to improve his performance at next month's National U23 Athletics Championships and the Open National Athletics Championships.

“I didn’t take risk during the state competition as my main aim is to perform better at the upcoming national competitions,” he added.

Shekhar, a silver medalist at the Khelo India Youth Games in pole vault in 2020 in Assam, hasn’t been able to train properly this season due to the pandemic.

“Since April I couldn’t train properly as the sports facilities were closed due to the pandemic. Recently I’ve shifted to Allahabad to train. Even the facilities aren’t good but I’m able to do basic drills to keep fit,” he added.

In 2018, Shekhar was selected to train at Sports Authority of India's (SAI) pole vault center in New Delhi, but that too is on the verge of closing down.

“The pole training center has been closed since April this year due to the pandemic,” said Shekhar.

COVID-19 has created training problems for other athletes as well

Due to Covid-19 protocols, the Uttar Pradesh state athletics competition is being spread out to different cities.

While pole vault and high jump events were conducted in Allahabad, Agra was the venue for throwing events, said PK Srivastava, secretary general of the Uttar Pradesh Athletics Association.

“The track events were held in Lucknow last week. The two-day throwing competition will conclude in Agra on Wednesday,” added PK Srivastava.

PK Srivastava said several prominent athletes from the state, like javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, might skip next month’s Open National Athletics Championships in Chennai.

Shivpal competed in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympic Games in men’s javelin throw event. He was eliminated in the qualifying round.

“I haven’t heard from Shivpal Singh about his participation in the next month’s Open National Athletics Championships. In case the athlete is interested in competiting in Chennai will send his entry,” said PK Srivastava.