Unfazed by goof-up, pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena excited to raise the bar with borrowed pole at Asian meet

Promising pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena wasn’t allowed to carry his equipment (poles) in the luggage from New Delhi to Seoul on Friday evening for the Asian U20 Athletics Championship. Despite the goof-up, the teenager from Madhya Pradesh is excited to give his best at the event with borrowed equipment.

The Asian meet starts on Monday in Yecheon, South Korea, and Meena has his event scheduled for the opening day.

A 45-member Indian contingent, including Meena, boarded the flight to Seoul from New Delhi on Friday, but the airline was reluctant to carry three poles of five meters each in the luggage due to technical reasons, as per the young pole vaulter.

Incidentally, the poles were allowed in the domestic flight from Bengaluru to New Delhi, but the connecting international flight from New Delhi to Seoul refused to carry them in the luggage due to technical reasons.

“The organizers---the Korean Athletics Federation has assured to provide poles to the Indian athletes,” Meena told Sportskeeda over the phone from Yecheon.

Sunil Kumar, who will compete in decathlon, will also have to compete with borrowed equipment in the continental competition.

Unfazed by not having his personal equipment on his international debut, the teenager says he will ensure that he makes best use of the new equipment. Since pole vault is a technical event, the poles or equipment used should be according to an individual's height and body weight.

Randomly picking up any pole and going for competition is not advisable, says senior athletics coach Sanjay Garnaik.

“It’s always good to have a personal pole as it is a bit difficult to adjust to new equipment in a short time,” Garnaik added.

Last month during the Senior National Federation Cup Athletics Meet in Ranchi, Meena won the pole vault gold with 4.80m. His personal best this year is 5m, while during practice he has touched 5.10m.