Thrown off a train in January, Kuldeep Kumar now breaks pole vault national record

Kuldeep Kumar, 21-year-old from Madhya Pradesh cleared 5.41m in Bhubaneswar to break the national pole vault record, months after being stranded at Panvel station for carrying his poles.

In Short

• Kuldeep Kumar clears 5.41m, sets new national record in men's pole vault
• 21-year-old breaks statemate Dev Meena's previous national record of 5.40m
• Kuldeep was stranded at Panvel station in January for carrying his poles

Kuldeep Kumar is India's new national record holder in men's pole vault. At the 1st Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault competition in Bhubaneswar, the 21-year-old from Madhya Pradesh cleared 5.41 metres, surpassing the previous national record of 5.40m held by his Dev Meena, who finished third at 5.20m. Reegan G finished second at 5.25m.

It was a breakthrough performance. The kind that arrives quietly in Indian athletics and deserves far more noise than it gets.

What makes Kuldeep's story remarkable is not just the number. It is what came before it.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

A TRAIN, A TTE, A PLATFORM

A few months earlier, in January 2026, Kuldeep Kumar and Dev Meena were returning from the All India Inter-University Championships. They boarded a train. A Travelling Ticket Examiner ordered them off at Panvel station. The reason: they were carrying poles.

The two athletes spent nearly five hours stranded on the platform, trying to explain to railway authorities that their poles were not excess luggage or an inconvenience. They were the tools of their sport. Nothing worked. No one in authority seemed particularly interested in resolving the situation.

Meena later filmed a video about the ordeal that went viral. In it, he raised a question that stayed relevant long after the clip stopped circulating: if a national record holder can be treated this way, what is happening to junior athletes every day?

CLEARING EVERY BAR

That is the part worth dwelling on. He did not get there with the system's help. He got there in spite of everything, the indignity at Panvel, the lack of attention Indian athletics receives, the absence of any real infrastructure for a sport as demanding and technical as pole vault.

He charged down the runway in Bhubaneswar, planted his pole, and flew over a bar that no Indian man had ever cleared before. On the other side of that bar was a national record, a podium, and a statement that Indian pole vault has a new name to reckon with.

WHAT THE NUMBER MEANS

Kuldeep Kumar is just 21 years old. He has time, talent, and now a national record to his name. He will board more trains. He will carry his poles. Whether he will be treated with basic dignity when he does remains, unfortunately, an open question.

For now, the number stands at 5.41 metres. A national record. Proof that some athletes clear every bar put in front of them, even the ones that have nothing to do with sport.

- Ends