Yelena Isinbayeva breaks hiatus with an emphatic win in Heusden – Athletics news
Taking the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder as a right platform, Russian pole-vaulter, Yelena Isinbayeva, broke her hiatus of about one year from the sport and emerged as a winner for leaping for an impressive 4.60m on Saturday, July 16.
Though the heavy rain and gushing winds bent upon hindering her way from bagging the title, the undeterred athlete did not lose her concentration and jumped across the 4.60m bar. The performance of the Russian proved that she is fit and a career break of
about one year had only added to her athletics acumen.
Isinbayeva, the 29-year-old vaulter, whose name is considered as a synonym to excellence in the game, has had the privilege of winning two Olympic gold medals and a staggering five World Championship titles. The current record holder for the discipline,
amid her matchless achievements in the game is known as the best pole-vaulter ever in the history of the game.
Besides bagging global events like Olympics and World titles, she has emerged at over nine major athletics events around the world. These events are no lesser prestigious than the world indoor, outdoors and the European indoors and outdoor events.
She not only bagged the IAAF Golden League in 2007 and 2009, but also was declared as the IAAF ‘Athlete of the Year’ in 2004. Last year, in Daegu, for marking a disappointing performance, she decided to take a break from the game.
Breaking her silence at Heusden, Isinbayeva’s spectators were both excited and worried about her game as they were doubtful for whether she will perform her traditional game after a long career break or not. With the results produced by the strenuous athlete,
it became evident that she had not lost her grip over her game and still had got the potential to overcome a strong field.
Appearing on the track on Saturday, she kicked-off the competition with a huge leap of 4.50m. This indeed was enough to restore her confidence and raise her morale to observe an impressive 4.60m stride right in the next go. The result becomes further significant
when looked into the context that the weather conditions were that bad that the organisers at one point had decided to cancel the meeting.
Commenting upon her comeback on a notable success she observed after a long time, Isinbayeva said, “I wanted to compete because I was strongly focused on this comeback. I did not want to take any risk and decided to attempt a first bar at 4.50m. Technically
I jumped well and I felt good. The next height went equally well. At 4.70m my muscles really began to suffer from the cold and from the rain.”
To her, this was the point where she found herself running out of the energy to stay focused. However, she was happy over marking a successful comeback with a remarkable victory. Besides a personal satisfaction, the Russian vaulter was also happy for the
reception she received from the Belgian crowd. Giving all these circumstances, she was right to cherish her comeback to the sport.
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