Indian pole vaulter Dev Meena missed out on a medal at the Asian Games despite setting a national record. He had no Indian coach to guide him in Nagoya. Dev revealed that on the night of the final, a foreign coach stepped in to help him when no one else was available. Interestingly, the coach’s own athlete went on to win the gold medal at the tournament. Dev spoke exclusively to The Lallantop about his Asian Games campaign and the challenges he faced.
Question: What was your target at the Asian Games?
“I gave it everything I had to clear the 5.60-metre mark. I put in all my effort and tried my best, but the weather conditions weren’t favourable, and I was completely exhausted. That’s why I started at 5.20 metres. After clearing 5.50 metres, I couldn’t deliver the same level of performance in my next attempts.“When I set the national record, I kept reminding myself not to get too excited. I didn’t want to stop at 5.50 metres. I had come here with the goal of clearing 5.60 metres. Even if I couldn’t win a medal, my target was always to cross that 5.60-metre mark.”
Question: What would you say about breaking the national record six times in two years?
“I would give all the credit to my coach, Ghanshyam Sir. He has worked incredibly hard for me. If I had been on my own, I probably wouldn’t have been able to achieve all this. He has supported me in even the smallest things and has always stood by my side.”
Question: Did you feel that the 5.60-metre target was achievable?
“Next time, I will definitely clear 5.60 metres. I don’t want to make a huge jump all at once and then struggle to achieve anything further. I want to progress gradually. That was my mindset even before coming to this competition.“I was hoping to clear at least 5.60 metres, but unfortunately, I couldn’t achieve that. When I cleared 5.50 metres, my technique wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t execute the jump the way I wanted to, and the pole also became slightly unbalanced at that moment.”
Question: How did it feel to compete against world championship medallist EJ Obiena for the first time?
“EJ Obiena’s new coach in Japan helped me a lot. He shared several valuable insights with me, and I hope I get an opportunity to train with him someday. Ghanshyam Sir and I are considering going there for training and learning from him. I want to train abroad.“Getting the opportunity to train alongside some of the best vaulters in the world would help me improve. EJ Obiena is one of Asia’s finest pole vaulters, and his coach was also impressed by me. He guided me and even helped me make adjustments to my pole.“Ghanshyam Sir was guiding me from India, but I also sought help from Obiena’s coach because my own coach wasn’t physically present with me. Even though Obiena was competing in the event himself, his coach still took the time to help me. I really appreciated that gesture.”
