WC Women's Finals - Isinbayeva Articles

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/08/13/isinbayeva.shtml

Russia’s Isinbayeva Breaks World Pole Vault Record
Created: 13.08.2005 11:19 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:19 MSK


MosNews


Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia has broken another world pole vault record at the athletics World Championships in Helsinki, Associated Press reported.

Three weeks after becoming the first woman to clear the magical 5-meter mark, Isinbayeva improved the record to 5.01 on Friday.

She had already made sure of winning the gold medal when she mastered the height on her second attempt.

“No limit,â€Â

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.eitb24.com/noticia_en.php?id=82197

Gold medal winner Isinbayeva improves pole vault record to 5.01

Isinbayeva collects US$160,000 for breaking the record and winning the gold medal: US$60,000 for winning the title and the rest for the world record.

Her peers think Yelena Isinabyeva can raise the women's pole vault record to 5.20 meters. Isinbayeva is more modest, although it seems no height is out of reach for the Russian.

Three weeks after becoming the first woman to clear the magical 5-meter mark, Isinbayeva improved the record to 5.01 Friday at the athletics World Championships.

Isinbayeva already had made sure of winning the gold medal when she mastered the height on her second attempt. "No limit," Isinbayeva said of her incredible record breaking potential in the euphoric moments shortly after setting the mark.

Later, the Olympic champion lowered the target somewhat. "I always want to break the record, at every meet. I think this season 5.02 or 5.03 is possible, next year I don't know," Isinbayeva said. "But I think the women's record will remain one meter shorter than the men's."

Isinbayeva could do 5.20

Pavla Hamackova, the bronze medallist, thinks Isinbayeva can do better. "She is fast and if she improves her technique, I think she can do 5.20," Hamackova said.

The men's record is 6.14, set by Sergei Bubka in 1994, who broke the record 35 times in a career that included six world titles and one Olympic gold medal.

Isinbayeva, a former gymnast who took up pole vaulting eight years ago, now has set 18 world records indoors and outdoors - nine this year alone - and wants to eclipse Bubka's mark. She won the gold by clearing 4.70 meters.

Isinbayeva collected US$160,000 for breaking the record and winning the gold medal: US$60,000 for winning the title and the rest for the world record.

Just three jumps

The Russian needed only three jumps to make sure of winning the title. She started vaulting at 4.50, a height that only four other of the 13 finalists cleared. She also easily went over 4.60 and 4.70. When Monika Pyrek of Poland failed in her only remaining attempt at 4.75, Isinbayeva had the gold medal.

Isinbayeva asked for the bar to be raised to 5.01. She took it down in her first attempt, but was smiling and pumping her fists obviously confident of breaking the record in the next attempt. She did, sailing over the bar cleanly in a nearly perfect vault. "If it looks easy, it means I'm a professional pole vaulter," Isinbayeva said.

Isinbayeva celebrated with a back flip and raised her arms to wave to the near capacity crowd of 40,000 at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium.

The pole vault competition had been scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed until Friday because of bad weather. It turned out to be a good move. The weather improved considerably Friday, with declining wind and no rain. Isinbayeva took advantage of the better conditions and gave the championship its second world record.

"Today was perfect"

"When I woke up today the sun was shining in my room," Isinbayeva said. "Today it was perfect."

Pyrek earned the silver at 4.60, and Hamackova, of the Czech Republic, was third at 4.50.

Isinbayeva, a 23-year-old from Volgograd, won the bronze medal at the Paris worlds two years ago and then captured her first major title at the Athens Olympics last year.

After Friday's record, she met Bubka, who watched the competition. "He congratulated me and wished me good luck in breaking his record," said Isinbayeva, who studies Bubka's vaults on tape.

Bubka praised Isinbayeva's work ethic and mental strength. "Her technique is similar to my technique and this is a big difference," he said. "She is psychologically very stable. She's running well and a good athlete, very professional, very dedicated for her sport. Altogether this gives her a huge gap between the others."

"She's a personality, she's not only sports. She is very intelligent and she's a star outside of sports," Bubka added. "She can improve for sure. She handles pressure very well. It's no problem for her. You can see it."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/pol ... click=true

Pole vault record tumbles
By Len Johnson
Helsinki
August 14, 2005

Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Yelena Isinbayeva triumphs over the Helsinki weather to break the women's world pole vault record.
Photo: AFP
For two qualifying competitions and one final at these world championships, pole vaulting has been a battle against the elements.

On Friday night, Yelena Isinbayeva made it look easy. The greatest woman vaulter the world has seen soared over 5.01 metres to establish the first track and field world record of the championships (her Russian teammate Olimpiada Ivanova had already set one in the 20-kilometre road walk).

It was just Isinbayeva's seventh jump of the championships, two in qualifying way back last Sunday at 4.40 and 4.45, three at 4.50, 4.60 and 4.70 to win the final, one miss at 5.01 and then an easy clearance.

The competition was outclassed. Silver medallist Monika Pyrek of Poland managed 4.60. Pavla Hamackova of the Czech Republic took bronze with 4.50. Australian Tatiana Grigorieva, willing herself back to the big-time but not yet there technically, was more than a metre behind at 4.00.

Ironically, the first time Isinbayeva did not produce what looked to be a five-metre jump was when she was actually jumping at 5.01. She got the height all right, just not in the right place over the bar.

So Isinbayeva cannot jump five metres at will, not quite yet, anyway.

Isinbayeva was congratulated after the competition by Sergey Bubka, six times world champion, Olympic champion and still holder of the men's world record at 6.15 metres.

"He celebrated me," Isinbayeva said, presumably meaning congratulated and thus emulating Bubka's charmingly fractured English, "and wished me 36 world records." Bubka set 35 in his career.

"I was absolutely determined to become world champion for the first time and to break the world record," Isinbayeva said.

"The weather here has been very difficult for pole vault, the wind always in your face, but I am pleased that it has not disturbed me."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.iaaf.org/WCH05/news/Kind=2/newsId=31581.html

5.01m Pole Vault WORLD RECORD - Guess who?
Friday 12 August 2005

Helsinki, Finland - She stood on the runway as the clapping started and jigged her left leg. Then her right. She stopped. She waited. She looked to the ground. She said a few words. And then she raised the pole in the air.

The clapping grew in momentum and by the time Yelena Isinbayeva had taken off, the noise was at a crescendo and by the time she had cleared the world record height, she was leaping in the air almost before she hit the ground.



Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia celebrates winning gold in the women's Pole Vault
(Getty Images)


Now, where were we? Was it Athens, Madrid, London, Lausanne. No, this time it was Helsinki and the 10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics but to the greatest woman pole vaulter in history it does not seem to matter.

Pick a venue, name a championship and there is one sure fire certainty it seems these days that the brilliant Russian is going to break the World record. And what is it about Friday's? Did someone in Hollywood once say there were Freaky?

Well, you could make a movie about the life of this supreme athlete and the only person she would be swapping roles with would be Sergei Bubka. Because, in the way that the great Ukrainian dominated the men's pole vault, so she is in command of the women's.



Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia in the Pole Vault final
(Getty Images)


Three weeks ago, on a Friday at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in London, she achieved what many thought was impossible - she cracked the five metres barrier.

But here at the IAAF World Championships, she went a centimetre better than her 5 metres World record, and she did it with much to spare, though slightly brushed it on the way down.

How high can she take it? The way she is jumping now, she can take it as high as she probably wants.



Yelena Isinbayeva prepares for the Pole Vault qualification round
(Getty Images)


She did not enter the competition until the bar reached 4.50m and she cleared that with so much ease, that you sensed she was in the sort of mood that we have become used to seeing her.

But what makes her stand out, and makes her arguably the biggest woman star in the sport today, is that she brings such panache to her event. She is always smiling on the runway, always appreciating the support of the crowd and always delivering.

A year ago at the Olympic Games, she broke the World record by clearing 4.91m but now she has taken it onto such a different level, that the competition is not between her and her rivals but between her and the bar. And at the moment, the further the bar is climbing, the easier Isinbayeva is going after it.

The event, because of the way Isinbayeva brings so much drama to it, has topped the bill so often, because indoors or out, she has an ability to win gold and break the World record.

But in typical fashion, Isinbayeva thanked all those around her. There is nothing flashy about her. She still drives a Skoda car and has been living with her parents in Volgograd.

She said: "I want to thank my dearest; mother, father and sister and all those who are close and love me. I can only be extremely happy for this performance."

"I'm extremely happy and satisfied with the world record and the gold medal in the World Championships. I was very concerned about the weather this morning. But I am a positive and a smiling person and I'm sure it helps me a lot."

"Today the World record height seemed to be extremely high. It was really difficult to jump at that height. I'm sure I'll be able to clear 5.02m still during this season. Anyhow, Helsinki was my main competition this year and my training was aimed for this competition. Becoming a World Champion was not a dream, but the target.

"I will relax this evening, maybe I'll go to some night club and dance."

Poland's Monika Pyrek took silver with 4.60m while Pavla Hamackova, of the Czech Republic, won bronze with 4.50m. But from 4.70m onwards, there was only one woman in it and few will forget the way she won her first World Championship gold medal.

Samuel Peters for the IAAF