Why Indian Pole Vaulters Are Going Viral - And How That’s a Problem

India's national record holder in pole vault, Dev Kumar Meena, and his coach Ghanshyam were subjected to a deeply humiliating ordeal at Panvel Railway Station-an incident that once again exposed the fault lines in India's sporting ecosystem.

Returning from the All India Inter-University Championship in Mangaluru, Dev-along with fellow athlete Kuldeep, who set a meet record, and other teammates-was scheduled to travel from Panvel to Bhopal. What should have been a routine journey turned into a five-hour nightmare after railway officials objected to the athletes carrying their pole vault equipment.

Initially, the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) asked the athletes to leave the poles behind. After prolonged pleading, explanations, and proof of participation-including medals and official letters-the group was finally allowed to board the train, but only after being fined ₹1,875 for transporting 80 kg of sports equipment. The fine was paid from their own pockets. In the process, they missed an earlier train and endured hours of stress and public humiliation.

A Record-Breaker Treated Like a Rule-Breaker

The irony is painful. Dev Meena is not an anonymous junior athlete. The 20-year-old broke his own national record for the third time at the World University Games in Germany in July 2025, clearing 5.40 metres-a height that places him among Asia's elite and firmly on India's Olympic pathway.

Yet, on an Indian railway platform, he was made to feel like an inconvenience.

Coach Ghanshyam explained that pole vault poles-nearly five metres long-are made of fiberglass, are extremely fragile, and cost close to ₹2 lakh per pole. Sending them in the luggage van, where handling is rough and careless, carries a real risk of breakage. The team was carrying six to seven such poles-equipment that represents years of training, investment, and aspiration.

"The poles were carefully placed above the fans in sleeper or general compartments, a method athletes across India have followed for years without inconveniencing passengers," Ghanshyam said. "There is also the risk of theft, so we have to constantly keep an eye on them."

Despite explanations, officials allegedly insisted on either paying ₹8,000 or abandoning the equipment at the station-an impossible choice for athletes travelling on limited means.

'We Respect Players', Says Railways

Reacting to the outrage on social media, the Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer clarified that there was no intention to hurt the sentiments of any athlete.

"We respect players," the official told PTI. "We requested them to book the pole in the luggage section as the dimensions were larger than the permissible limit. Contrary to allegations on social media, the train was rescheduled for late running. There was never any intention to harass or insult players."

But intent is not the only issue-impact is.

For five hours, an international athlete and his coach stood on a railway platform, pleading for dignity. Letters from the Madhya Pradesh government's sports department were ignored. Even intervention calls from Olympian Ranjit Maheshwari, a railway sports officer, and former pole vaulter V.S. Surekha failed to resolve the issue immediately.

The Systemic Failure Behind the Incident

This episode is not about one TTE, one station, or one fine. It is about the complete absence of clear, athlete-centric guidelines for transporting specialised sports equipment in India.

Dev summed it up with brutal clarity: "I am an international athlete, and if this is happening to me, imagine what junior athletes go through. This is not new. There should be a proper system for transporting equipment like poles and javelins, just as there are arrangements for athletes' travel."

And that is the heart of the problem.

India wants medals. India wants Olympic glory. But India has no mechanism to ensure that an athlete's most basic requirement-safe transport of equipment-is handled with sensitivity and common sense.

Gold Medals Without Empathy

The sports story in India is painfully simple:
We want the gold, but we won't carry the poles.
The nation will celebrate the height, but the Railways will penalise the length.

At times, it feels like a pole vaulter's biggest hurdle isn't the bar at 5.40 metres-it's convincing a TTE that a five-metre carbon-fibre pole is not a nuisance, but a dream.

Standing on a platform for hours, being treated with suspicion and indifference, should not be an unspoken part of elite training. For the athlete, it is trauma. It tells them they are a problem-not a national asset.

The silence is louder than the incident itself. The federation says nothing. The Sports Authority of India maintains a studied quiet. The Indian Olympic Association is busy dreaming of the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

Why Kids Will Stop Choosing the Pole Vault

No one will choose pole vault after seeing this.

If you are talented, you will run the 100 metres. You will take up boxing. Maybe wrestling. Why? Because you can carry your shoes in a backpack. Your singlet fits in a pocket. You don't need the system's permission to travel.

We are trying to build world-class stadiums with third-class logistical systems.

Every time Dev Kumar Meena is forced off a train, a dozen junior vaulters quietly decide to quit. That loss will never appear in medal tallies. It won't trend on social media. But it will cost India far more than one broken pole.

The tragedy is not that an athlete was fined. The tragedy is that a nation aspiring for Olympic gold still doesn't know how to carry a dream safely from one station to another.