yelena isinbayeva russian best athlite

ISINBAYEVA, Yelena Gadzhievna
Russian pole vaulter, Honored Master of Sport of Russia
Two-time Olympic Champion - Women's Pole Vault, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008
Holder of 24 world records in Women's Pole Vault
yelena isinbayeva best athlite

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, eventually reaching a height of 1.74 m (5' 8½")

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

At the 2000 World Junior Championships, Isinbayeva again took first place clearing 4.20 m. 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.

She continued to improve in this relatively new event (world records for women's pole vault began in 1992) 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.

She would complete her studies in 2005 and would graduate with a specialization in physical education.

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.

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.