Two competitors, two national record-breakers -- Madhya Pradesh's pole vaulters Dev Kumar Meena and Kuldeep Kumar -- were seen struggling to transport their poles on an e-rickshaw after a sensational display at the Federation Cup 2026 in Ranchi. Dev and Kuldeep now hold the joint national record height of 5.45 metre but it wasn't enough to guarantee transport of expensive and fragile equipment.
The video on social media went viral, exposing the hardships India's athletes face after choosing not-so-popular sports in the country. After the high of breaking the national record, the Madhya Pradesh teammates were worried about their five-metre-long fibreglass poles. which they are highly likely to use in the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow a few weeks later to earn accolades for India.
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Duo were de-boarded off the train in January
This is not the first time, the pole vaulters duo have faced troubles transporting their poles. Earlier this year, they were told to de-board a train at Maharashtra’s Panvel station by TTE. At the time, they were returning after participating in the All India Inter-University Championships.
It left the duo stranded at the station for nearly five hours. The incident led to an emotional plea from Dev Meena as he wondered that if international-level competitors are mistreated, how the junior athletes will survive.
A fight for the ages before facing grim reality
Before, Madhya Pradesh duo were worried about transportation logistics of their poles, they engaged in a battle where Dev Meena won the gold medal on countback and Kuldeep had to settle for a silver. However, both of them lowered the national record with identical efforts of 5.45 metre.
The previous national record was 5.41m which belonged to Kuldeep Kumar during Bhubaneswar meet. After Deve and Kuldeep registered a 5.45m jump, the tie-breaking rule countback was used.
Both the athletes have qualified for the 2026 Commonwealth Games as the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had set a qualification mark of 5.25 metre.
“It was a good day for us and we will continue to push each other to further raise the bar in future,” Dev said after striking gold on May 24.
However, the questions remains whether the logistics for Indian athletes improve or remain the same.