A new pole vault world record set by Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva when she cleared 5.04m at the Super Grand Prix meeting in Monaco on Tuesday.
The Olympic and world champion bettered her previous world record of 5.03m, set in Rome on 11 July.
The 26-year-old's 23rd world record was set on her third and final attempt in the south of France.
The mark cements her standing as firm favourite for gold at the Beijing Olympic Games next month.
"The record just happened," said Isinbayeva. "Monaco is my home town and it's my first competition (in Monaco) since I've been living here. That motivated me.
"I'm in a good shape, I just need to keep my condition that way until the Olympics. I wanted to improve my personal best and that's what I did.
"I see this world record first of all as a personal best."
Isinbayeva initially trained as a gymnast in her hometown of Volgograd. She left gymnastics as a teenager because as she grew she was considered too tall to be competitive.
Her role model since she began the pole vault has been Ukrainian legend Sergei Bubka, and Isinbayeva has said that she would love to better his tally of 35 world records in the event.
Who Is Yelena Isinbayeva
Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva was born on June 3, 1982 in Volgograd, Isinbayeva is a Russian pole vaulter. She won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal with a new World Record then 4.91 m, was elected Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF twice (2004 and 2005), and Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus. On July 22, 2005, she became the first female pole vaulter to clear the metric barrier of 5.00 metres.
At the age of 26 she is seen as the best female pole vaulter in history. She has already been a 8-time major champion (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion).
Her current world records are 5.04 m outdoors, a record Isinbayeva set at a gala in Monaco on July 29th, and 4.95 m indoors, a record set at the Donetsk indoor meeting on 16 February 2008. The former was Isinbayeva's twenty-third world record.
Her mother is of Russian ethnicity, while her father is of Tabasaran people.
Personal LIfe
Her father, Gadzhi Gadzhiyevich Isinbayev, is a plumber and a member of a small (70,000-people strong) ethnic group of Tabasarans who mostly live in Dagestan. Her mother, a shop assistant, is an ethnic Russian. Isinbayeva also has a sister called Inna. Isinbayeva was born in a modest environment and remembers that her parents had to make many financial sacrifices in her early career.
She has a bachelor's degree after graduating from the Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture, and is currently studying for her master's. In the Russian club competitions she represents the railroad military team, she is formally an officer in the Russian army, and on August 4, 2005 she was given military rank of senior lieutenant. On her homepage, she states she is working to become a Physical Educator.
Isinbayeva states that she has a boyfriend of three years, a fellow pole vaulter whose name she doesn't reveal. She also acknowledges that she does not get along with her compatriot and rival Svetlana Feofanova.
She likes dolphins and Russian history. "I read a lot about Russian history, but I also love everything to do with dolphins, and collect small models of them. I have about 30 of them. My dream one day is to swim with real dolphins. I like them so much." Since recently, she writes on her homepage that she indeed now owns several of them.
In an interview with The Guardian, Isinbayeva makes fun of the fact that female pole vaulters are seen as sex symbols for "male couch potatoes", as their usual muscular, but slim build makes them highly attractive. In addition, she acknowledges that her rags-to-riches career, combined with her work ethic and sex symbol status, makes her somewhat similar to Maria Sharapova: "We [Sharapova and herself] are quite similar. Being famous sportswomen is not easy and her parents also sacrificed everything for her. And, like (Sharapova), the idea of being glamorous is very important to me. I always want to look like a girl. I don't agree that you are either a sportswoman or a girl. It's important that there are women who bring glamour to sport." Isinbayeva feels she could peak at 5.15 m, and plans to jump at least until the Olympics of 2012, but since Moscow was elected hosts of the 2013 World Championships, she has suggested she may continue until then.
She features in Toshiba ads promoting their entire product line in Russia.
FYI - Behind Sports
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