From ACL Injury To People's Taunt, Baranica Elangovan Battled It All To Win India's First Asian Games Medal In Pole Vault

Baranica Elangovan Bronze Medal: Baranica Elangovan, an Indian pole vaulter, has scripted history in Indian athletics after winning a Bronze medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The victory was not just a podium finish, but a vindication after years of self-doubt and injuries. Many in her village questioned her for choosing such a sport, but the 24-year-old had made up her mind to change the norms.

Hailing from Kuthalam, a town near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, Baranica Elangovan initially pursued long jump and triple jump before unexpectedly landing in pole vaulting. Her 2026 Asian Games bronze is India's very first pole vault medal in Asian Games history. She cleared a height of 4.15 meters and shared the podium with Kazakhstan's Polina Ivanova.

Image Credit: PTI

From ACL Injury To Asiad Bronze

Baranica Elangovan's journey to the Asian Games represents a profound tale of resilience. In 2020, she underwent a challenging phase of rehabilitation after facing an ACL injury, which could have caused an abrupt end to her pole vault career. In 2023, she moved to the Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, where improved training and recovery facilities helped her make significant progress.

During that time, people questioned her choice of sport and told her parents, "Why let a girl take part in Pole Vault? This event is quite risky. If something happens to her, no one will marry her."

But her parents refused to listen and assured her coach that she would do wonders in the sport. "She'll be able to do more than you think. She'll definitely shine in the sport,". Five years later, she brought India's first medal in the pole vault at the Asian Games.

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How Baranica Elangovan Found Pole Vault By Accident?

Baranica Elangovan's transition from the long jump to the pole vault was entirely accidental. After moving to Chennai for college from Mayiladuthurai, she initially focused on the long jump and triple jump before diving into the world of pole vault. The search for a triple jump coach eventually made her cross paths with coach Milber Bertrand Russell.

She said, "I was part of the triple jump. I was searching for a triple jump coach, but unexpectedly, I found a pole vault coach because of the event. After seeing the event, I got really excited, and I just wanna give it a try. That's how I entered the pole vault. After entering the sport, I started to follow the routines and everything."

Image Credit: SAI

India's First Pole Vaulter To Win A Medal At Asian Games

Without realising her feat, Baranica became India's first pole vaulter in both men's and women's categories to win an Asiad medal. "I was not aiming for the medal, actually. I was aiming for the performance. I just wanted to hit my PB [Personal Best] today. That's the one thing on my mind: running. I need to do it. I need to do. I need to do. I was really aggressive with my pole and run-up."

Thanking her parents and coach, she credited her success to their sheer belief. She also thanked the Athletics Federation of India for ensuring that her pole reached Japan and for arranging a preparatory camp that helped her adjust to the conditions.

Her other achievements include a jump of 4.22m at the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar in March, taking the Indian record to a new level. To surpass her own national mark, two months later, she went over 4.23m at the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault Competition in Bhubaneswar.

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