NEW DELHI: For Baranica Elangovan, the Asian Games bronze medal in Nagoya was about much more than clearing a bar at 4.15m. It was a moment of vindication after years of injury, doubt and questions over whether a woman from her village should even be taking up a sport considered risky.When the 24-year-old Indian took up pole vaulting, people around her questioned the decision and warned her parents that an injury could affect her future.“I come from a village. When I started, I underwent ACL surgery after an injury while vaulting in 2019. At that time, everyone was telling my 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.’ They were talking behind our backs,” Elangovan told IANS after winning bronze.But her parents refused to listen.“But my mum and dad believed in me. They spoke clearly with the coach, and my coach believed in my talent. He told them, ‘She’ll be able to do more than you think. She’ll definitely shine in sport.’ They believed him, and I want to thank them too, because they didn’t listen to others; they believed in me,” she said.Asian Games Full Coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule
From ACL surgery to Asian Games history
Elangovan’s journey to the podium was hardly conventional. After moving from Mayiladuthurai to Chennai for college, she initially pursued long jump and triple jump before unexpectedly finding her way into pole vault.“I was part of the triple jump. I was searching for a coach for the triple jump, but unexpectedly, I got a coach for the pole vault 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,” she said.Five years after undergoing ACL surgery, Elangovan cleared 4.15m in Nagoya to become the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in pole vault. She finished tied with Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova, with the bronze eventually decided on countback after both athletes failed at 4.25m.Even then, Elangovan did not immediately realise she had made history.“I didn’t believe I’d won the medal. My colleague came up and said, ‘You were at the bronze, you won it.’ There was another athlete sharing the bronze, the Kazakhstan athlete. My colleague told me that I was tied at third for the Bronze medal. Only after that did I find out. I was aiming for a PB (Personal Best), but I actually got the medal.”Her focus throughout the competition had been performance rather than the podium.“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. I need to do. I need to do. I was really aggressive with my pole and run-up…,” she said.
‘This is for you, Anna’
Elangovan also credited the Athletics Federation of India for ensuring that her pole reached Japan and for arranging a preparatory camp that helped her adapt to the conditions.“This time, our Athletics Federation of India tried every possible way with every airline to take our poles, and they made it really possible. I also want to thank the Athletics Federation of India. It was only because of them that I could win this medal,” she said.“There was a preparatory camp at Sugupa University one week before the Asian Games, which helped me adapt to the environment, timings, food and recovery. They sorted everything out for us, and it was really nice,” she added.After overcoming the doubts that accompanied her journey, Elangovan knew exactly who she wanted to dedicate the medal to.“I’m dedicating this to my coach, Milber Bertrand Russell.”“This is for you, Anna,” she said while dedicating the medal to Russell.And she hopes her medal will change perceptions around the event she once entered almost by chance.“Definitely! When I started, there were only five to six competitors. Now, you can see around 15 competitors, and many more young athletes are doing it in the under-20 category. I can see it, and definitely, India will be able to see a change in pole vault history, with the performance also,” she said.
