The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Yelena Isinbayeva does it again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 18, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Yelena Isinbayeva does it again

MADRID: Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia broke the women's pole vault World record for the second time in 11 days when she cleared 4.95m at the IAAF Super Grand Prix meeting on Saturday.

The 23-year-old sailed over the bar on her second attempt to break her previous mark of 4.93 set in Lausanne on July 5. It was the 15th world record of Isinbayeva's career and took her another step towards the total of 35 records set by Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka during his career.

Bubka was on hand to congratulate the former gymnast on her latest record and embraced the Russian after she had received the plaudits from the crowd.

"I knew I was ready to break the record again but it was quite difficult out there," said Isinbayeva. "It was very hot and the wind was tricky too, but my coach kept telling me that my technique was good."

It was a triumphant return to Madrid for the Russian who set her World indoor record of 4.92 when she competed in the Spanish capital at the European indoor championships back in March. "Madrid is a very special place for me as I've broken two World records here and the spectators were fantastic once again," she said.

Isinbayeva's latest record was a break from tradition, though, as she tends to set new marks one centimetre at a time but on this occasion she beat her previous best by two centimetres in her second attempt at the height.

"In Greece I failed at a new record of 4.94 so this time I decided to go for two more centimetres instead," explained the Russian. Saturday's performance earned Isinbayeva her eighth outdoor World record, the other seven being achieved indoors. — Reuters

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