Jaipur: Dark horse Kuldeep Kumar, 21, came up with a brilliant show to upset national record holder Dev Meena on countback in the men’s pole vault event in the second Indian Athletics Series 2026 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday.Both Kuldeep and Dev cleared 5.25m on their first attempt but the former bagged the top spot on earlier countbacks. Avneesh Kumar completed the top three with a 5m jump.The national record in men’s pole vault stands at 5.40m, set by Dev at the World University Games in Germany last year. Both Dev and Kuldeep attempted 5.41m in pursuit of a new record but were unable to go past the bar. Kuldeep, nevertheless, equalled his personal best.The Jaipur meet marked the second stop in the 16-event Indian Athletics Series introduced by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) this season. The one-day event featured a full slate of track and field finals. The first Series ended in Bengaluru on Saturday.Yashvir Singh won the men’s javelin throw event with a best effort of 77.00m.KM Deeksha, who holds the national record of 4:04.78 in women’s 1500m, clocked 4:25.74 for the top spot.The series now moves to New Delhi and Ranchi for its next two legs, scheduled over the upcoming weekend.RESULTS (Indian Athletics Series 2, Jaipur)(Men’s) Hammer throw: 1. Ashish Jakhar (65.99m); 2. Devang (63.38m); 3. Sachin Yadav (61.79m)Pole vault: 1. Kuldeep Kumar (5.25m); 2. Dev Meena (5.25m); 3. Avneesh Kumar (5.00m)1500m: 1. Sonu (3:43.70); 2. Prakash Kumar (3:48.65); 3. Ritik Deol (3:49.92)Shot put: 1. Adarsh Sanjeev Khanna (16.86m); 2. Armaandeep Singh (16.67m); 3. Ankur Dixit (16.17m)Long jump: 1. Mohd Atta Sazid (7.63m); 2. Pradeep Kumar (7.05m); 3. Yash Paresh Khanvilkar (6.95m)400m: 1. Vikrant Panchal (46.98s); 2. Boopathi R (47.17s); 3. Kapil Raika (47.53s)110m hurdles: 1. Shivdarshan (14.99s); 2. Pankaj Pal Sahu (15.40s); 3. Mukul (15.55s)High jump: 1. Sunil Kumar (2.05m); 2. Adityansh Singh (2.00m); 3. Aaditya Raghuvanshi (2.00m)100m: 1. Rohit (10.63s); 2. Harsh Santosh Raut (10.70s); 3. Aaditya Tomar (10.75s)Men’s javelin throw: 1. Yashvir Singh (77.00m); 2. Mangal Singh (67.94m); 3. Gyan Ranjan Mahato (67.48m)Triple jump: 1. Dablu Roy (15.63m); 2. Jagseer Singh (15.31m); 3. Krishna (14.78m)3000m steeplechase: 1. Jujhar Singh (9:05.87); 2. Anupam (9:07.74); 3. Rahul Phartyal (9:09.70)(Women’s) High jump: 1. Payal Jamod (1.71m); 2. Seema Kumari (NM)1500m: 1. KM Deeksha (4:25.74); 2. Shilpa Dihora (4:34.47); 3. Shivechha Vikas Patil (4:37.33)400m: 1. Anchal Rani (54.99s); 2. Rishita Kaur (55.74s); 3. Madhura Tushar Birje (56.40s)Long jump: 1. Priya Rathore (6.05m); 2. Pariksha (5.94m); 3. Soniya (5.68m)100m hurdles: 1. Puja Koleypandit (14.93s); 2. Priyanka (15.65s)Shot put: 1. Kachnar Chaudhary (15.75m); 2. Suman Sharma (15.09m); 3. Kavita Kumari (13.74m)Hammer throw: 1. Tanya Chaudhary (62.18m); 2. Manpreet Kaur (59.37m); 3. Kulvinder Kaur (54.26m)Pole vault: 1. Babita Patel (3.80m); 2. Nitika Anup Akare (3.80m); 3. Archana Singh (3.70m)Javelin throw: 1. Uma Choudhary (47.02m); 2. Khushee Yadav (46.68m); 3. Manpreet Kaur Gurja (44.18m)3000m steeplechase: 1. Anju (10:27.70); 2. Komal Chandrakant J (10:28.77); 3. Khushbu Gupta (10:44.76)Triple jump: 1. Rinku Choudhary (12.29m); 2. Preeti (12.17m); 3. Anamika (11.57m).
