Yelena Isinbayeva

Russian Yelena Isinbayeva is described as the greatest female pole vaulter in history. Yelena has been named World Athlete of the Year three times, has set 24 world records, has won 9 major championships, and two Olympic golds.

Women's pole vault only became an Olympic sport in the year 2000, when Stacy Dragila of the United States won the gold medal. Yelena Isinbayeva, who is now 26, would like to compete till the 2012 Olympics in London. By that time she hopes to break more than 35 world records in pole vaulting! This by the way is the record held by her mentor, and Ukrainian male pole vault legend, Sergei Bubka.



"I like that I can control my body," says Elena about pole vaulting. "I like to fly. I like those feelings when you’re over the bar. It's more beautiful than other track and field events."

Her parents put Isinbayeva and her sister into gymnastics, which Yelena continued with till she was 15. But then Isinbayeva grew too tall (5'9") for gymnastics. Because of her upper body strength and all those years of jumping and flipping in gym, Yelena became a natural for pole vault, suggested to her by her gym coach.

Yelena Isinbaeva's mother is Russian, while her father is of Tabasaran ethnicity. She was born in Volgograd and has an honorary rank of captain in the Russian army. Yelena now trains and lives mostly in the Principality of Monaco (in the photo on the right above, Yelena Isinbayeva poses for a portrait during the IAAF World Athletics Gala at the Sporting Club November 25, 2007 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images). She told Spikes Magazine that along with hard training, she loves chocolate, and eats 100g daily in the off-season. But when in training Yelena reduces her chocolate intake to 20g a day.

Isinbayeva lowers her general carb intake during competitions. "During the season I try not to eat a lot of sweets, chocolate, bread, pasta and sugar," she says. In fact Yelena even denied herself food ahead of the Olympic final last year. "Beijing was only the one time I didn't eat, I was hungry. If I'm hungry it helps me to jump higher."

"It's tough to break records on your own. Just like in any other sport, you need serious rivals to push you to greater heights," Isinbayeva boasted in an interview last year. "I know if I do my best, it's impossible to beat me. There's no chance for anybody. Sorry."

The female pole vaulter who came closest to challenging Yelena was American Jenn Stuczynski who jumped 4.92 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials last year. "Everybody was saying Ah O.K., Isinbayeva is finished, we have a new star," the Russian said. "So today I was really angry." That was after the fired up Yelena leaped 5.03 meters, or 16-foot-6, in Helsinki to break her own world record. "I just wanted to show everyone that I'm still the old Yelena. The one and only."



Yelena Isinbayeva has a muscular frame, with good upper body strength. She does strenuous workouts in the gym and 30 minutes of jogging; then she's in the swimming pool to relax her muscles. Before any competition Yelena has to avoid jogging or even walking too much, to prevent any injury to her feet. And talking about feet, Isinbayeva is passionate about shopping for shoes! With all the money she makes from endorsements, Yelena would also like to buy a yacht and a car.

What about boyfriends or marriage? Speaking about about her newly-born nephew last summer Yelena said, "I can feed, nurse and make the child calm. We went with Vanyechka for long walks, and he often fell asleep on my hands. He even kissed me on the cheek!". And the Russian beauty adds, "Of course some day I want and plan to have my own children."