She borrowed a pole.
She carried a passport-size photo of her dad in her bag.
And then she rewrote Indian athletics history.
Meet G Sindhushree, 25, from Shivamogga.
The new national record holder in women's pole vault.
At the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar, she cleared 4.25 metres — on her very first attempt.
First. Attempt.
Beating Baranica Elangovan's mark of 4.23m set just months earlier.
And booking her ticket to the Asian Games. 🎯
She reached into her bag.
Pulled out a small photo of her father, Ganesh R.
An electrician. Gone three years ago. Heart attack.
His dream was simple — to see his daughter wear India colours.
He never got to.
"Today, when I have achieved that, he is not here to see that," she said.
Pole vault is brutally expensive.
And Sindhushree had almost nothing.
She'd been practising on a smaller pole for years. So worn out it had gone loose.
Not ideal. Not even close.
Vijeesh MM, her coach at SAI Bengaluru, rebuilt her technique around what she had, not what she needed.
On record day, she even shortened her runway.
👉 From 16 steps to 14.
Just to make the borrowed pole behave.
And still — 4.25m. 🔥
She didn't quit. She figured it out.
That's the whole story.
It was a big day for Indian athletics in Bhubaneswar:
A borrowed pole.
A father's photo.
A mother at a sewing machine somewhere in Shivamogga.
And a girl who refused to stay grounded.
India just found its next pole vault star.
And she's only getting started.
That's all for now!
