Madhya Pradesh promising pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena aims to scale new heights at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships

After winning gold with a new record to boot at the just concluded Khelo India Youth Games 2022, Madhya Pradesh’s promising pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena has set his sights on the Asian Junior Athletics Championships. The event is scheduled to be held in South Korea in June.

“The age group continental competition in June will be a good opportunity to further raise the bar,” Meena told Sportskeeda. “I am planning to take a short break to rejuvenate. After the break, I will concentrate and continue to work hard to achieve my goal in June.”

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will conduct the 21st Junior Federation Cup Championships from May 15 to 17 in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu. This will also act as a qualifying event for the 2023 Asian Junior Championships scheduled to be held from June 4 to 7 in Yecheon, South Korea.

The previous edition was held in 2018 in Japan, while the 2020 edition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meena, a trainee at the Madhya Pradesh athletics academy in Bhopal, said that whenever he goes home for a break, he does cross-training to stay fit:

“I work with my father in the fields and do other routine work at home, which keeps me fit."

Meena’s gold medal-winning performance last week in Bhopal was 4.91m. His goal in the near future is to break the 5m barrier.

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Dev Kumar Meena expected to reach new highs before mid-year

Sanjay Garnaik, chief athletics coach of Madhya Pradesh Athletics Academy, was confident that his athlete would clear 5m during the domestic meeting in May:

“He (Dev Kumar Meena) has so much energy that sometimes we ask him to hold him back in practice,” Sanjay Garnaik explained. “We will commence specialized training shortly and he should be successful in achieving new goals.”

Dev Kumar Meena, the son of a small-time farmer from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, has made good progress in the past 18 months. The sprinter-turned-pole vaulter was spotted in November 2020 by the Madhya Pradesh talent search team. He was initially selected for short sprints, but later shifted to the pole vault, Garnaik said, because he had the potential to do better in jumps.

The youngster from Madhya Pradesh missed the 2022 Asian Youth Athletics Championships held in Kuwait as he hurt his shoulder in a freak incident. But he is looking ahead to the 2023 Asian junior championships.

“I have more than three months to work hard to polish my skills on the pole vault pitch and give my best in South Korea,” Dev Kumar Meena said as he headed home for a break.