Isinbayeva aims to set unbreakable record, praises Youth Olympics
Pole vaulters that reach heights of six metres or more are included in the prestigious ‘six metres club’. This club only includes men, and only 17 of them. Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva may not have joined that group, but she's in a club all to herself. She is the only woman to reach a height of five meters. Currently she holds the women’s pole vault world records of 5.06m outdoors and 5.00m indoors. Now she’s looking to set a record that will never be broken.
"I will try my best and try to set up a world record that no one could beat in the future - never, never. I would only want to beat my own record. Well, I think 5.20m, 5.30m will be enough, forever," said the 28-year old Isinbayeva.
With an impressive track record to date, Isinbayeva could very well set a mark that will last at least a very long time. She has continually improved since winning her first major title at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow. Since then she has gone on to win 11 other gold medals, 9 of them at major championships. She has also set the world record in pole vaulting 17 times. Fourteen of those times she broke her own record. The most recent new world record came in Zurich on 28 August of last year when she broke her own record of 5.05m, set at the Beijing Olympics, with her current world record height of 5.06m.
Isinbayeva won the gold medal in both the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In 2005 she became the first woman to vault over five metres in 2005 in London on 22 July. It wasn’t until 2009 that she became the first woman to vault over five meters indoors.
She was named Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF in 2004, 2005, and 2008, and she was named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year in 2007, and 2009. She is considered by many to be the greatest female pole vaulter of all time.
Isinbayeva is in Singapore as one of three IOC Ambassadors for the newly formed Youth Olympic Games. Isinbayeva is a strong supporter of the Youth Games which includes athletes between the ages of 14 and 18.
"It's an amazing event, it was a nice idea and the right idea to provide Youth Olympic Games. It will help to encourage youth all around the world into the sport," she said.
The Youth Games divides its participants into two age categories includes 3531 athletes from 204 countries. Not every event from the Olympics is represented at the Youth Games although the majority are, including the pole vault. Singapore will see 184 events in 26 sports.
Sweden’s Angelica Bengtsson took gold in the pole vault Saturday, vaulting to a height of 4.30m. Australia’s Elizabeth Parnov finished second with a height of 4.25m, and Ganna Shelekh, of Ukraine, took bronze with a height of 4.20m. Isinbayeva’s gold at the World Youth Games in Moscow was won with a height of 4.00m, she was 16 years old at the time. Bengtsson is 17 years old and has won already won the World Junior Championship, and the World Youth Championship to go along with her recent Youth Olympic title.
Like the standard Olympic Games, the Youth Games will happen every two years, alternating between summer and winter events. Currently the first ever Summer Youth Olympics are being hosted in Singapore. The Games started 14 August and are set to run till 26 August.
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