Punjab, Sept. 25 -- Baranica Elangovan cleared 4.15m to win bronze in the women's pole vault - the first Asian Games medal India has ever won in the event, in either the men's or the women's competition.
What "first ever" means here
The Asian Games have been held since 1951. India has been competing in athletics at every edition. In seventy-five years, no Indian has stood on a pole vault podium until today.
That is not a gap caused by a lack of athletes. It is a gap caused by equipment, coaching and facilities - pole vault requires a pit, a runway, a set of poles graded to the vaulter's weight, and a coach who has done it. Very few places in India have all four.
Why the technical events are the hard ones
India's athletics medals have h...