Indian athlete Baranica Elangovan won the bronze medal in the women’s pole vault at the Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan today. This marks country’s first-ever medal in the pole vault event at the Asian Games. The 29-year-old athlete secured the podium finish with a best clearance of 4.15 metres.

While her compatriot Sindhushree Ganesha exited the competition without registering a mark, Baranica stayed in strong contention, navigating the field as Japan’s Misaki Morota led the event.

This achievement caps off a standout year for Baranica. Earlier this year, she shattered the National Record twice-first leaping 4.22m in March and later rewriting it to 4.23m in May at Bhubaneswar. With this, India’s overall medal tally has risen to 23, comprising, two gold, nine silver and twelve bronze.