Top Olympic Hopefuls--Women

[roger/over]

In its August 2nd issue, Sports Illustrated offered its medal picks. For the
women's pole vault, they were:

Gold--Svetlana Feofanova, Russia
Silver--Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia
Bronze--Stacy Dragila, United States

This time, I can't take exception to their three medal nominees, although the order of finish is up for grabs. Here, we have three athletes who all are highly experienced in international competition. All of the three have held the world record and each has won world championships. (Dragila is the only-ever Olympic champion.) Each has improved the all-time outdoor mark in the last two months. In head-to-head competitions over the past five years, Dragila and Isinbayeva have each come out ahead ten times, Feofanova leads Dragila 19 to 11, and Feofanova leads Isinbayeva 29 to 15.

As for their present readiness, I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the prospects of the three favorites and the other top three world-ranked Olympic entrants. Unlike the case of the men's vaulters, all of the world top six are expected to be in the Olympic competition. Their outdoor season marks follow. One thing I'm certain you'll notice is the relatively abbreviated outdoor season of the Russians. Whether this is an advantage remains to be seen.

If I've missed an athlete who's of special interest to you, it's easy to check on them individually. Just go to Jalava's home page <http://www.tilastopaja.net> and about half-way down, you'll see a space to enter a name for the bio and season's record of any athlete on the current world list. Since the link is from the home page, it's not necessary to enter the "members only" subscription section.

Cheers,
Roger

~~~~~

Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) age 22
2004 Outdoor Marks--#1 on Mirko's world list

4.87 1 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun
4.65 2 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul
4.89 1 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul
>4.90 1 Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

1999 4.05 5 EJ Riga 8 Aug
2000 4.05 7 EC Gent 27 Feb
2000 NH qOG Sydney 23 Sep
2000 4.20 1 WJ Santiago de Chile 18 Oct
2001 4.25 7 WIC Lisboa 9 Mar
2001 4.40 1 EJ Grosseto 21 Jul
2002 4.55 2 EC München 9 Aug
2003 4.60 2 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar
2003 4.65 1 EJ Bydgoszcz 19 Jul
2003 4.65 3 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug
2004 4.86 1 WIC Budapest 6 Mar

~~~~~

Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) age 24
2004 Outdoor Marks--#2 on Mirko's world list


4.60 1 ECCC-A Moskva 29 May
4.70 2 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun
>4.88 1 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul
4.80 1 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul
4.69 2 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul
4.80 2 Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

2000 4.35 1 ECp Gateshead 15 Jul
2000 NHq OG Sydney 23 Sep
2001 4.51 2= WIC Lisboa 9 Mar
2001 4.60 1 ECp Bremen 23 Jun
2001 4.75 2 WC Edmonton 6 Aug
2001 4.45 2 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep
2002 4.75 1 EC Wien 3 Mar
2002 4.70 1 ECp Annecy 22 Jun
2002 4.60 1 EC München 9 Aug
2002 4.40 2 WCp Madrid 20 Sep
2003 4.80 1 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar
2003 4.75 1 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug
2004 4.70 3 WIC Budapest 6 Mar

~~~~~

Stacy Dragila (USA) age 33
2004 Outdoor Marks--#3 on Mirko's world list


4.70 1 Twilight El Paso TX 1 May
4.55 1c2 ModR Modesto CA 8 May
4.60 2 Sky Inv Phoenix AZ 14 May
4.70 1 US Open Stanford CA 31 May
4.50 1 GP Sevilla 5 Jun
>4.83 1 GSpike Ostrava 8 Jun
4.78 1 Askina 11 Jun
4.55 1 DLV Erfurt 13 Jun
4.70 1 Pre Eugene OR 19 Jun
4.75 1 OT Sacramento CA 18 Jul
4.57 3 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul
4.60 4 Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

1997 4.40 1 WC Paris 9 Mar
1998 NH GWG Uniondale NY 19 Jul
1999 4.35 8 WIC Maebashi 5 Mar
1999 4.60 1 WC Sevilla 21 Aug
2000 4.60 1 OG Sydney 25 Sep
2001 4.51 4 WIC Lisboa 9 Mar
2001 4.75 1 WC Edmonton 6 Aug
2001 4.55 1 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep
2003 NHq WIC Birmingham 15 Mar
2003 4.55 4= WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug
2004 4.81 2 WIC Budapest 6 Mar

~~~~~

Anna Rogowska (POL) age 23
2004 Outdoor Marks--#4 on Mirko's world list


4.50 1 Dunecki Bydgoszcz 16 May
4.40 1 Saulheim 29 May
4.30 3 GP Sevilla 5 Jun
4.50 2 Kusoc Warszawa 13 Jun
4.40 1 Hof 19 Jun
4.60 3 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun
4.45 2 NC Bydgoszcz 2 Jul
4.65 3 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul
4.40 5 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul
>4.71 1 Thess 2004 Thessaloníki 19 Jul
4.60 3 Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

Pole vault
2002 4.20 12= EC Wien 1 Mar
2003 4.35 6= WIC Birmingham 16 Mar
2003 4.45 7 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug
2004 4.40 7 WIC Budapest 6 Mar

~~~~~

Kellie Suttle (USA) age 31
2004 Outdoor Marks--#5 on Mirko's world list

4.35 3=c2 ModR Modesto CA 8 May
4.50 3 Sky Inv Phoenix AZ 14 May
4.00 5 Home Depot Carson CA 22 May
4.64 1 Jonesboro AR 27 May
4.30 5= US Open Stanford CA 31 May
4.10 7 Adidas Gresham OR 5 Jun
>4.67 1 Jonesboro AR 16 Jun
4.50 3 Pre Eugene OR 19 Jun
4.56 1 High Perf Provo UT 25 Jun
4.55 3 OT Sacramento CA 18 Jul
4.30 6 Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

1998 4.10 6 GWG Uniondale NY 19 Jul
1999 4.25 2 PAG Winnipeg 25 Jul
1999 4.35 9 WC Sevilla 21 Aug
2000 4.00 11 OG Sydney 25 Sep
2001 4.51 2= WIC Lisboa 9 Mar
2001 4.20 5 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep
2003 4.45 4 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar
2003 4.10 4 PAG Santo Domingo 9 Aug

~~~~~

Monika Pyrek (POL) age 24
2004 Outdoor Marks--#6 on Mirko's world list

4.60 1 Biala Podlaska 29 May
4.40 3 GSpike Ostrava 8 Jun
4.50 1 Kusoc Warszawa 13 Jun
4.40 2 ECp Bydgoszcz 19 Jun
4.40 5 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun
4.45 1 NC Bydgoszcz 2 Jul
4.55 4 Tsiklitiri Iráklio 4 Jul
4.50 2 Salamanca 13 Jul
4.60 3 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul
NH Norw Union London 30 Jul

in Major Championships:

Pole vault
1997 3.80 10 EJ Ljubljana 27 Jul
1998 4.10 3 WJ Annecy 29 Jul
1998 4.15 7 EC Budapest 21 Aug
1999 4.20 11 WIC Maebashi 5 Mar
1999 4.10 4 EJ Riga 8 Aug
2000 4.20q EC Gent 25 Feb
2000 4.40 7 OG Sydney 25 Sep
2001 4.40 1 EJ Amsterdam 14 Jul
2001 4.55 3 WC Edmonton 6 Aug
2001 4.35 4 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep
2002 4.60 3 EC Wien 3 Mar
2002 4.20 4 ECp Annecy 22 Jun
2002 4.30 5qB EC München 7 Aug
2003 4.45 3 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar
2003 4.55 4= WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug
2004 4.50 5 WIC Budapest 6 Mar
2004 4.40 2 ECp Bydgoszcz 19 Jun