Yelena Isinbayeva

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Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva (Russian: Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева; born June 3, 1982 (1982-06-03) (age 25) in Volgograd) is a Russian pole vaulter. She won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal with a new World Record (then 4.91 m), was elected Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF twice (2004 and 2005), and Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus. On July 22, 2005, she became the first female pole vaulter to clear the metric barrier of 5.00 metres.

At the age of 25 she is seen as the best female pole vaulter in history. She has already been a 8-time major champion (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion).

Her current world records are 5.01 m outdoors, a record Isinbayeva set at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and 4.95 m indoors, a record set at the Donetsk indoor meeting on 16 February 2008. The latter was Isinbayeva's twenty-first world record.

1987-1997

From the age of 5 to 15, Isinbayeva trained as a gymnast in her hometown of Volgograd. She ultimately left the sport because as she grew she was considered too tall to be competitive in gymnastics, ultimately attaining a height of 1.74 m (5' 8½").

1998-2002

In her first big competition, the 1998 World Junior Championships in Annecy, France, Yelena jumped 4.00 m but this left her 10 cm away from the medal placings.

In 1999, Yelena improved on this at the World Youth Games in Bydgoszcz, Poland when she cleared 4.10 m to take her first gold medal.

The following year at the World Junior's she again took first place clearing 4.20 m ahead of German Annika Becker. The same year the women's pole vault made its debut as an Olympic event in Sydney, Australia where Stacy Dragila of United States took gold.

2001 saw another gold medal, this time at the European Junior Championships with a winning height of 4.40 m.

She continued to improve in this relatively new event and 2002 saw her clear 4.55 m. at the European Championships finishing 5 cm short of compatriot Svetlana Feofanova's gold medal winning jump.

2003

2003 was another year of progression and saw Yelena win the European Under 23 Championships gold with 4.65 m (in Bydgoszcz). She went onto break the world record clearing 4.82 m on July 13 at a meeting in Gateshead, England which had made her the favourite to take gold at the World Championships the following month, but lack of technique saw her only win bronze with Feofanova taking gold and Becker, this time, pipping her for the silver.

2004

2004 saw the women's pole vault really start to mature as an event and during a meeting at Donetsk, Ukraine, Yelena set a new indoor worlds best, with a height of 4.83 m only to see Feofanova increase this by a single centimetre the following week. The following month at the World's Indoor in March Yelena broke this with a gold medal winning jump of 4.86 m beating reigning indoor & outdoor champion Feofanova into bronze with reigning Olympic champion Dragila taking silver.

June 27 saw her return to Gateshead and once again the world record mark was improved to 4.87 m. Feofanova bounced back the following week to again break the record by a centimetre in Heraklion, Greece.

On July 25 in Birmingham, England, Yelena reclaimed the record jumping 4.89 m and five days later in Crystal Palace, London, added a further centimetre to the record.

The pole vault was one of the most eagerly awaited events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and although the competition did not reach the heights that were anticipated the rivalry between Yelena and Feofanova brought the event alive. With all of the other events finished the whole crowd were focused on the pole vault.

When Feofanova failed at 4.90 m the gold medal was Yelena's, and she then rubbed salt into her compatriots wound by attempting and clearing a new world record height of 4.91 m. She broke her own record later that year at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels with a 4.92m jump.

2005

In July 2005, she broke the world record four times over three separate meetings. First in Lausanne, Switzerland, she added an extra centimetre to her own mark clearing 4.93 m. It was the 14th world record of Isinbayeva's career coming just three months after she broke her own indoor mark (4.89 m) in Lievin. Eleven days later, in Madrid, Spain, she added an additional 2 cm to clear 4.95 m. In Crystal Palace, London on July 22, after improving the record to 4.96 m, she raised the bar to 5.00 m. She then became the first woman pole vaulter to clear this metric barrier, achieving the mark with a single attempt. At the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, she once again broke her own world record, performing 5.01 m in her second attempt, and winning the competition.

2006

At an indoor meeting on February 12 in Donetsk, Ukraine, Isinbayeva set a new indoor world record. She cleared 4.91 m. In August she won the gold medal at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

Isinbayeva was crowned Laureus World Sports Woman of the Year for the 2006 season.

2007
Isinbayeva being interviewed after her victory at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka
Isinbayeva being interviewed after her victory at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka

On 10 February 2007 in Donetsk, Ukraine, Isinbayeva broke the world indoor pole vault record again, by clearing 4.93 metres. It was Isinbayeva's 20th world record.

On 28 August 2007 she repeated as world champion in Osaka at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics with a modest 4.80 m, then failing three times at setting a new world record at 5.02 m. Her competition did no better than 4.75 m (next 3 competitors).

2008

On 16 February 2008 in Donetsk, Ukraine, Isinbayeva broke the world indoor pole vault record again, clearing 4.95 metres. It was Isinbayeva's twenty-first world record.

On March 8, 2008 in Valencia, Spain, she won the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships over Jennifer Stuczynski, winning with fewer attempts. Both cleared 4.75 m.

Reasons for success

Setting 21 world records, staying virtually unbeaten since the Olympic Games of 2004 (winning eight straight gold medals in indoor and outdoor championships) and being elected IAAF Female Athlete of the Year in 2004 and 2005, Isinbayeva has established herself as one of the most successful athletes of her generation.

In August 2005, top UK pole vault coach Steve Rippon said to the BBC that "she [Isinbayeva] is one of the few female pole vaulters I look at and think her technique is as good as the men's. In fact, the second part of her jump is probably better than any male pole vaulter currently competing. She has a fantastic technique, she's quite tall (almost 5ft 9in) and she runs extremely well."

These statements are confirmable by close observation of her jumps; in detail, Isinbayeva's high level of body control (courtesy of her gymnastics background) especially pays off in the so-called "L-Phase", where it is vital to use the pole's rebound to convert horizontal speed into height. Common mistakes are getting rebounded away in an angle (rather than vertically up) or inability to keep the limbs stiff, both resulting in loss of vertical speed and therefore less height. In Isinbayeva's case, her L-Phase is exemplary.

Personal life
Yelena Isinbayeva 2007
Yelena Isinbayeva 2007

Her father, Gadzhi Gadzhiyevich Isinbayev, is a plumber and a member of a small (70,000-people strong) ethnic group of Tabasarans who mostly live in Dagestan. Her mother, a shop assistant, is an ethnic Russian. Isinbayeva also has a sister called Inna. Isinbayeva was born in a modest environment and remembers that her parents had to make many financial sacrifices in her early career.

She has a bachelor's degree after graduating from the Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture, and is currently studying for her master's. In the Russian club competitions she represents the railroad military team, she is formally an officer in the Russian army, and on August 4, 2005 she was given military rank of senior lieutenant. On her homepage, she states she is working to become a Physical Educator.

Isinbayeva states that she has a boyfriend of three years, a fellow pole vaulter whose name she doesn't reveal. She also acknowledges that she does not get along with her compatriot and rival Svetlana Feofanova.

She likes dolphins and Russian history. "I read a lot about Russian history, but I also love everything to do with dolphins, and collect small models of them. I have about 30 of them. My dream one day is to swim with real dolphins. I like them so much."[6] Since recently, she writes on her homepage that she indeed now owns several of them.

In an interview with The Guardian, Isinbayeva makes fun of the fact that female pole vaulters are seen as sex symbols for "male couch potatoes", as their usual muscular, but slim build makes them highly attractive. In addition, she acknowledges that her rags-to-riches career, combined with her work ethic and sex symbol status, makes her somewhat similar to Maria Sharapova: "We [Sharapova and herself] are quite similar. Being famous sportswomen is not easy and her parents also sacrificed everything for her. And, like (Sharopova), the idea of being glamorous is very important to me. I always want to look like a girl. I don't agree that you are either a sportswoman or a girl. It's important that there are women who bring glamour to sport." Isinbayeva feels she could peak at 5.15m, and plans to jump at least until the Olympics of 2012, but since Moscow was elected hosts of the 2013 World Championships, she has suggested she may continue until then.

She features in Toshiba ads promoting their entire product line in Russia.

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