She opened her season with a world record in Rome and then improved it by another centimetre in Monaco, just 10 days before the Beijing Olympics were to open. Beyond five metres, Yelena Isinbayeva is on her own at the pole vault pit; she has to compete against herself and set records. Sergey Bubka used to do that before he placed the men’s pole vault record beyond the reach of mere mortals at 6.14 metres. When Isinbayeva is around in a competition she has to wait and wait to get to her starting height, normally around 4.70 nowadays, when most of the others are out of the fray. Long waits can be frustrating. But the 26-year-old Russian is relaxed; she knows her prowess. When she was asked, before the competition at last year’s World Championships in Osaka, whether she felt anyone could beat her, Isinbayeva replied in the negative. “I know that if I do my best, it’s impossible for someone to beat me. There’s no chance for anybody. Sorry, but that’s the way it is,” she said.
This year, American Jennifer Stuczynski came up with a 4.92 at the Olympic trials in Eugene. As though in answer to the challenge, feeble though it could be in Beijing, the Russian went up to 5.03 in Rome and then 5.04 in Monaco.
“I’m in good shape,” said Isinbayeva. “I just need to keep my condition until the Olympic Games. I wanted to improve my personal best and that’s what I did,” she said after setting her 23rd world record in Monaco. Her aim is to cross Bubka’s tally of 35 world records.
Isinbayeva set a world record last time in Athens while winning at 4.91. She holds 21 of the top 25 marks in the all-time list and has a 11-0 record against Stuczynski.
K. P. Mohan
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