Post-Asiad high: VS Surekha breaks her own national record

What made the effort even more remarkable is the fact that she had hardly trained for the competition that was held in the post season of the athletics calender.

The last competition Surekha had trained for was the Federation Cup in Patiala a couple of months back.

That event had served as the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) qualification event for the Incheaon Asian Games. As opposed to the qualification mark of 4.15m set by the AFI, Surekha had managed to clear just 4.05m. The bronze medal at the Asian Games incidentally was won with an identical 4.15m jump.

“After the Federation Cup in Patiala, I really hadn’t trained at all. I simply had one jump session on October 28 before this tournament,” says Surekha.

But what made things easier was the fact that unlike at Patiala, she had nothing to gain and so was under no pressure.  “During the Federation Cup, I was under the pressure of qualifying for the Asian Games. Here, I wasn’t under any pressure. I simply competed with all my effort,” she says. What had hindered her in Patiala, she says was the competition being held in the evening. “Pole vault is a technical event. At Patiala, even under the floodlights, it was impossible to see the track clearly while running in,” she says.

The vault event in Delhi in contrast was held in the afternoon. The 4.15m mark too had additional significance.

“I didn’t come in with the goal of breaking the national record but I had a target in mind. The Asian qualifying standard at the Federation Cup was 4.15m. It was very disappointing to miss the Asian Games and I wanted to prove that I could achieve that mark,” she says. Indeed Surekha seemed in perfect rhythm on Tuesday.

Even as her competitors failed to move beyond 3.60m, Surekha cleared each subsequent jump with ease. She took just eight attempts to move from her initial attempt to set her new national record. The only time Surekha faltered was when she attempted to clear 4.25m.

“I had some mixed feelings. I was really happy that I had proved a point but at the same time I was only half satisfied because I felt that I could have cleared an even higher mark. Today’s effort will give me the extra confidence to do well next year,” she said.
Sudha sets meet record

In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Sudha Singh made the most of the pulling out of Asian Games bronze medallist Lalita Babar, who pulled out after running a lap, to win gold in 10:08.50, breaking her own meet record of 10:09.04 of last year.