Anushka Yadav smashes hammer throw national record with 67.02m at Bhubaneswar
Synopsis
Two national records fell on the opening day in Bhubaneswar: 18-year-old Anushka Yadav obliterated a nine-year-old women's hammer throw mark with 67.02m, and Dev Kumar Meena cleared 5.46m in pole vault — his second consecutive national record. India's athletics field-event pipeline has rarely looked this deep.
Key Takeaways
Anushka Yadav , 18, set a new women's hammer throw national record of 67.02m at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on 24 June 2026 .
Her throw surpassed Sarita Singh's nine-year-old record of 65.25m and cleared the Asian Games qualifying mark of 61.72m .
Dev Kumar Meena cleared 5.46m in men's pole vault — a new national record and his second consecutive record-breaking performance.
India's men's pole vault national record has been broken five times in under two years .
Isha Elango leapt a personal-best 13.89m in women's triple jump, placing her third on India's all-time list and fourth in Asia this season.
Jyothi Yarraji clocked 13.14 seconds in the 100m hurdles heats on her return from injury, meeting the Asian Games 2026 qualification standard.
Anushka Yadav, just 18 years old, rewrote Indian athletics history on the opening day of the 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships 2026 at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, 24 June, breaking the women's hammer throw national record with a career-best 67.02m and securing her berth for the 2026 Asian Games.
A Record-Shattering Series
Yadav opened her campaign with a 62.07m effort, immediately clearing the Asian Games qualifying mark of 61.72m. She then improved to 65.64m before unleashing a final-round throw of 67.02m — her personal best and the new national record. The previous mark of 65.25m, set by Sarita Singh nine years ago, had stood as one of Indian athletics' more durable records. Yadav erased it by a margin of 1.77m, signalling a generational shift in the event.
Dev Kumar Meena Clears 5.46m in Men's Pole Vault
Dev Kumar Meena added a second national record to the day's tally, clearing 5.46m in the men's pole vault to better the 5.45m mark he had shared with Kuldeep Kumar at the Federation Cup in Ranchi just a month earlier. The new height also met the Asian Games qualification standard. Notably, the Indian men's pole vault national record has been improved five times in under two years, reflecting the rapid depth building in the discipline. Dev now holds the record outright, and this was his second consecutive national record-breaking performance.
Isha Elango Lands Third on India's All-Time Triple Jump List
I. Isha Elango delivered a personal-best 13.89m in the women's triple jump, placing her third on India's all-time list and fourth-best in Asia this season. Elango had already crossed the Asian Games qualifying standard of 13.34m with a 13.67m effort earlier in the competition before improving further on her best attempt.
Jyothi Yarraji Returns in Women's 100m Hurdles
India's leading hurdler, Jyothi Yarraji of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, made a measured return from a lengthy injury layoff, clocking 13.14 seconds in the opening heats of the women's 100m hurdles to meet the Asian Games 2026 qualifying standard. The 26-year-old's controlled run suggested she is building back carefully ahead of the international season.
What This Means for Indian Athletics
Two national records on a single opening day at an inter-state championship is rare. This comes amid a broader surge in Indian field events, with the country producing competitive marks in pole vault, hammer throw, and triple jump within a compressed window. All three athletes — Yadav, Meena, and Elango — have now locked in Asian Games 2026 qualification, giving India an early and emphatic statement of intent ahead of the continental showpiece.
Point of View
Not a ceiling. Dev Meena's pole vault trajectory — five national records in under two years — is the more systemic story: it points to a coaching and infrastructure intervention that is actually working. The question now is whether the Athletics Federation of India can convert this pre-Asian Games momentum into podium finishes, or whether, as has happened before, the record books get rewritten domestically while international medals remain elusive.
NationPress
24 Jun 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What national record did Anushka Yadav break at the 2026 Inter-State Athletics Championships?
Anushka Yadav broke the women's hammer throw national record with a throw of 67.02m at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on 24 June 2026. The previous record of 65.25m had been held by Sarita Singh for nine years.
Has Anushka Yadav qualified for the 2026 Asian Games?
Yes. Yadav cleared the Asian Games qualifying mark of 61.72m with her very first throw of 62.07m in the competition, and went on to set a national record of 67.02m in the same session.
What is Dev Kumar Meena's new pole vault national record?
Dev Kumar Meena cleared 5.46m in Bhubaneswar, improving the previous national record of 5.45m that he had shared with Kuldeep Kumar. This was his second consecutive national record-breaking performance.
How did Isha Elango perform in the women's triple jump?
I. Isha Elango set a personal best of 13.89m, placing her third on India's all-time list and fourth-best in Asia this season. She had already cleared the Asian Games qualifying standard of 13.34m earlier in the competition.
What was Jyothi Yarraji's performance on her return from injury?
Jyothi Yarraji clocked 13.14 seconds in the women's 100m hurdles heats — a controlled run that met the Asian Games 2026 qualifying standard. The 26-year-old from Visakhapatnam was competing in her first race of the season after a lengthy injury layoff.
