India, Jan. 23 -- Typically two weeks before an athletics meet, pole vault coach Ghanshyam Yadav, aside from overseeing the final leg of preparation of his trainees, gets busy with something more pressing. From scouring train schedules to arranging for written recommendations from his employer, the coach has his hands full. His immediate objective is to ensure his vaulters get to travel with their poles; technical finetuning can take a temporary backseat. The challenge to get poles to the venue, Yadav said, is sometimes more daunting than the competition itself.

"The nervousness is real. Getting the poles to the venue in the right shape and form is critical to performance," Yadav said.

Earlier this week, a bunch of Yadav's trainees, ret...