Coach Milber Bertrand Russell Sets Sights On New Heights After Baranica Elangovan's Historic Asian Games Bronze

Baranica Elangovan claimed a bronze in women’s pole vault at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on September 25. The 29-year-old became the first Indian, male or female, to finish on the podium at an Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games, the three events long treated as the top tier of multi-sport competition worldwide.

The 29-year-old from Tamil Nadu shared the bronze with Polina of Kazakhstan after both cleared 4.15 metres. Japan’s Misaki Morota took gold with 4.55 m and China’s Niu Chunge won silver with 4.50 m.

The medal stands out in India’s athletics campaign because pole vault has never delivered a podium finish for the country at the biggest multi-sport events. Baranica also achieved it on her Asian Games debut in Nagoya.

Coach Sees Next Step

Russell now wants more. Baranica’s surprise medal has raised the bar for her long-time coach Milber Bertrand Russell, who laid out the next target in his interaction with SAI Media.

“The next targets will be to consistently improve her personal best and move towards the 4.40-4.50m level. Beyond that, we want her to compete strongly at major international competitions and continue improving her position at the world level,” Russell told SAI Media.

Basketball missed out, but athletics gained her. Russell guided Baranica into a national-level athlete, and she said, "I am a pole-vaulter by chance and it was my coach who brought me to this level," Baranica, whose personal best is 4.23 m, a mark that stood as the national record until G. Sindhusree Ganesha cleared 4.25.

“No one was expecting me to win a medal. I only wanted to improve my personal best but I ended up on the podium. At least I have opened India’s account at the Asian Games and I thank my support team and family for this,” said Baranica to SAI Media.

Baranica’s Asian Games bronze has really fired up Russell. “For me, this medal is not the destination. It is the beginning of the next chapter for Baranica. We came to Nagoya with a realistic approach. We knew the competition would be very strong and that every athlete would be capable of performing at a high level. Our target was to take the competition one height at a time and focus on the process rather than thinking too much about the medal. We believed Baranica had the potential to fight for a medal, but we also knew that she had to execute well on the day. She showed a lot of fighting spirit and eventually won the medal,” said Russell.

Russell feels Baranica’s medal will help lift the status of pole vault in India. Among field events, pole vault, although very attractive, has largely remained in the shadows of javelin, discus or shotput.

“When Indian athletes start performing well at international competitions, people begin to notice the event. Baranica winning an Asian Games medal will hopefully encourage more young athletes, coaches and academies to take up the event,” says Russell.

Russell hopes Baranica’s medal will also spur the Athletics Federation of India to garner better facilities and support from the government, that invests big monies on Olympic sports. “We still need better facilities, equipment, proper coaching and more opportunities for young athletes to compete and develop. As for Baranica, we need to make her stronger, improve her consistency in the approach and take-off and develop her speed and power further. She also needs more experience at the highest international level,” said Russell.

Track and field events remain India’s best bet at international events. Athletics, almost always, has the biggest team at events like the Asian Games and the Olympics. After superstar Neeraj Chopra gave javelin a strong foothold in Indian athletics, Baranica’s bronze medal has at least given pole-vault a good reason to rise and shine.