Baranica Elangovan’s four-year chase ends in national record

Baranica Elangovan set the ground running for India's inaugural National Indoor Athletics Championships, registering a national record in women's pole vault at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

From the approach run to the successful 4.22m clearance and landing, it was just 8 seconds. But for Baranica, it was the culmination of years of toil. 

"I've been trying to get the national record for four years now," Baranica told The Bridge a day after her performance. 

Having recorded her personal best of 3.90m in 2021, Baranica had attempted to breach the then national record of 4.15m thrice.

Not only did she fail, but she had to watch Rosy Meena Paulraj break it not once but twice to 4.21m in the span of a fortnight in 2022 from close quarters. Baranica then tried to upstage Rosy five times before she eventually became eighth-time lucky in her quest for national record.

Both Baranica and Rosy broke through under the aegis of coach Milber Russell.

For someone obsessed with the national record for nearly half-a-decade, pole vault wasn't something Baranica was ever interested in. Instead, she was nudged in that direction by a college instructor.

"In college, I used to play quite a bit of basketball," she said. "Before that, in school, I used to compete in long jumps and triple jumps.

"One of the days, an instructor in college saw something and asked me to try pole vault.

"It wasn't something I was remotely interested in, but they pushed me to meet Milber sir once. I went and did well the first time. That's how pole vault started," added Baranica.

Her initial years in the sport were a struggle. Pole Vault requires immense strength, especially in the core, arms, and shoulders, to soar. But Baranica weighed just 45kg. 

Though she managed to put that behind her and compete, she picked up an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury in early 2019.

"The first three years were tough," recalled Baranica. "I put the early struggles behind me and was doing well when I had to undergo the ACL surgery in February 2019.

"Though I returned to the field soon, it took me two or three years to actually get back to my best and sort out the imbalances the injury caused in my body," she added.

Once Baranica got back into her groove, it took her four more years to earn the national record. 

"The first thing I noted about Baranica was that she was always very dedicated and punctual," said coach Milber, who has been working with her for over eight years now.

Milber admitted that the national record wasn't on their mind when they reached Bhubaneswar for the competition. In fact, a tired Baranica wasn't even convinced herself to go for the mark. 

"The idea was to simply get the approach run correct. We talked about high carrying the pole, which would help her plant it better and get better launch," said Milber.

High carrying, as per the coach, refers to a technique where the vaulter holds the pole high and close to their body, where the top hand is positioned high over the shoulder. This helps in planting the pole better and getting a better vertical height.

It's an area Baranica reveals she has struggled with over the years.

"I was lacking in technique, and we knew it," she said. "We've been working on it for quite some time in training sessions.

"It just all came together for the first time during a competition, probably because I was attempting without any pressure," she added.

As she admitted, there was no pressure. The indoor season across the globe had already ended, and she had achieved the Asian Games qualification mark set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in her last outing at the India Open Jumps earlier this month. 

Having earned the national record, she just wants to keep the momentum and good technique going.

"I do not have any particular height target. I just want to keep doing well in the upcoming competitions," Baranica signed off.