# Sangli daily-wage earner trains village students as pole vaulters 2026-08-09T01:44:48+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Anis Shikalgar (33), once a daily-wage labourer in Sangli district, now coaches 12 students in pole vault, free of cost. He realised at 27 that he had started too late to represent India, but instead of quitting, he began training village children to keep them away from addictions. Student Atharv Mirajkar finished fourth at the National School Athletics Championship in 2025 and now aims for the Asian Championships. With equipment out of reach, landing mats cost Rs 2-4.5 lakh and poles up to Rs 1 lakh, Anis made his own safety mats from discarded bike seats, foam and soil. He earns Rs 2,000 a week at his cousin's factory and supplements his income by training one well-off child. His ultimate goal is to take his students to the five-metre qualification standard. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: daily wage, grassroots coaching, pole vault, rural Maharashtra, Sangli, sports infrastructure Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sangli-daily-wage-earner-trains-village-students-as-pole-vaulters/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sangli-daily-wage-earner-trains-village-students-as-pole-vaulters/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.