Elena Isinbayeva of Russia celebrates after she jumped 5 meters in the pole vault to break the world record during the Crystal Palace athletics Grand Prix, in southern London Friday July 22, 2005
Photo: AP
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Clearing the Bar
Russia’s pole vaulter Elena Isinbayeva, 23, became the first woman to set late Friday the record which recently seemed unattainable. She cleared five meters at the London athletics Grand Prix. But it is apparently not her limit yet.
Everyone was used to Elena Isinbayeva’s records: she chalked up over fifteen of them before the London competition. The last two were set in Lausanne (4.93m) and Madrid (4.95m). Yet, the Friday attempt came as a surprise for many people. Even for those who heard that Isinbayeva and her coach often had often gone beyond that height in training.
The president of the Russian Federation of Athletics Valentin Balakhnichev said he was sure the Russian would soon become the fist woman to soar over five meters in the pole vault but he had thought it would happen in a month, at the World Championships in Helsinki. At least, because it is not customary that an athlete shows all he is worth ahead of the season’s main competition. Isinbayeva broke the historic record in London, in very favorable weather conditions (21 C, windless), which testifies to the fact that it is not the peak for the athlete. Besides, the Russian took 4.70m and 4.80m with such an ease, in contrast to most of her rivals who found it hard to reach the heights. Later she asked to put the bar at the record 4.96 and here she misgave taking the high only by the second attempt. But as if trying to show the audience the previous miss was accidental, she soared over five meters at one dash.
The man who can be considered the best expert in pole vaulting had the same feeling in London. Great Sergey Bubka who broke the “cosmic” 6-meter men’s record twenty years ago congratulated Isinbayeva on the record and handed her a $50,000 check for it. Answering the question on the Russian’s abilities he said, “She can go higher. I sincerely wish her to beat me by the number of records. The Ukrainian legend has chalked up 35 records, so if Elena Isinbayeva will surpass this achievement, then, consequently she will step over the 5.20m-mark sooner or later.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 25, 2005
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