Nagoya: India’s Dev Kumar Meena bettered his own national record in the men’s pole vault, clearing 5.50 m during the final at the Asian Games 2026 here on Tuesday.
Meena began the final positively, effortlessly clearing 5.35m on his first attempt with a smooth, well-executed jump. He then took two attempts to jump over 5.20. However, the national record holder did not take much time to clear 5.50 m and did so on his first attempt, setting another record.
Despite setting the record, Meena failed to clear the 5.60m in three attempts and brought an end to his campaign in the ongoing tournament. He finished seventh in the leaderboard.
His counterpart, Kuldeep Kumar, failed to even clear 5.50m and finished in 10th position with a best of 5.35 m.
Meena entered the competition holding the national record at 5.46 m, which he had set at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in June.
Competing at the Kalinga Stadium, Meena cleared 5.46m to surpass the previous national mark of 5.45m, which he had shared with compatriot Kuldeep Kumar after their joint effort at the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May.
The 5.46 m clearance also helped Meena achieve the qualification standard for the Asian Games. Meena cleared the record height in his final attempt after successfully negotiating 5.00m, 5.20m and 5.35m.
Five days after sharing the national record with Kuldeep at the Federation Cup, Meena had taken sole possession of the mark in Bhubaneswar. His latest effort in Japan saw him improve that record by another four centimetres.
The 21-year-old’s rise has been rapid, with the national record in men’s pole vault changing hands several times during the 2026 season. Kuldeep had initially raised the mark to 5.41m in May before Meena and Kuldeep both cleared 5.45m at the Federation Cup.
Meena then moved the record to 5.46m at the Inter-State Championships before raising it further to 5.50m at the Asian Games.
Meena had earlier finished fourth at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he cleared 5.30 m and narrowly missed out on a podium finish.
(IANS)
