Saturday, 16 February 2008 Isinbayeva again! 4.95 World record in Donetsk - UPDATED
4.93 in Donetsk - another World record for Yelena Isinbayeva (2007) (Organisers)
In her 2008 debut, Yelena Isinbayeva raised her own World record indoors to 4.95m* today at the Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine.
The 25-year-old Russian added two centimetres to the previous indoor mark she set one year ago at this same competition.
“I’m very happy to start an Olympic season with a World record in my first competition,” said Isinbayeva, who won in Donetsk for the fifth consecutive year. It was also the third consecutive year in which Isinbayeva, who has leaped 5.02m outdoors, broke the indoor mark in Donetsk.
Clearing out the rust
In her first competition since 3 October, Isinbayeva began her competition with first attempt clearances at 4.67m and 4.77, the latter enough to seal the victory. She need three tries at 4.87m, and after a pair of misses at 4.94, she gambled and had the bar raised to 4.95. The gamble paid off.
After a few more competitions, Isinbayeva will be defending her World indoor title in Valencia next month.
Russian Yuliya Golubchikova finished second with a 4.72 clearance, just shy of her personal best 4.75 from Athens earlier this week. Monica Pyrek of Poland was third with a 4.67 clearance, a season’s best.
Mazuryk takes men’s contest, first Ukrainian victory since Bubka in 1993
The Ukrainian meet is run by the greatest ever pole vaulter, Sergey Bubka, who though retired from the sport as an athlete and now Senior Vice-President of the IAAF, remains the men’s World record holder for the event.
It was then perhaps fitting that on the 15th anniversary of Bubka’s 6.15 record leap at this meeting in 1993 - 21 February 1993 to be exact - that the men’s competition was won for the first time since by a Ukrainian vaulter.
24-year-old Maksym Mazuryk improved his career best to 5.81 to take top honours from a pair of Russians, 2004 World indoor champion Igor Pavlov and Yevgeniy Lukyanenko. Each also cleared 5.81 but lost on the count back.
Vitaliy Bubka (in Donetsk) and Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
- pending the usual ratification procedures