Baranica Elangovan set a new national record in women’s pole vault, clearing 4.23m at the Bhubaneswar Indoor Stadium, improving her own mark within a span of five weeks.

The Tamil Nadu athlete, now training in Bhubaneswar, surpassed her previous national record of 4.22m, which she had set at the National Indoor Athletics Championships in March at the same venue. She achieved the new mark on her third attempt, continuing her strong run of form.

Combined events see strong performances

In the men’s heptathlon, Thowfeeq N of NCOE Trivandrum secured gold with 5350 points, maintaining his lead from Day One. Usaid Khan of the Army and Jashbir Nayak of Odisha finished second and third respectively.

In the U20 category, Kirthik Vasan S of Tamil Nadu clinched the men’s heptathlon title with 4609 points.

The women’s pentathlon was won by Purnima Hembram of Odisha with 3835 points, while Isha Chandra Prakash and Bidisha Kundu completed the podium.

In the U20 women’s pentathlon, Jaskiran Kaur of Uttarakhand emerged victorious with 3272 points.

Baranica’s latest national record highlights her consistency at the top level and reinforces Bhubaneswar’s Indoor Stadium as a key venue for Indian athletics performances.