Slesarenko is firing on all cylinders again - IAAF Golden League

Yelena Slesarenko believes that she is in better shape than at any time since she won the Olympic women's High Jump title three years ago and she has set her sights on the IAAF Golden League Jackpot’s $1m top prize - but it will not upset her too much if she drops out of contention in Friday's Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis. As much as Slesarenko would like the money to donate to charity, and to buy her parents a house, she has one higher priority.

In Paris for the second Golden League meeting of the season, having won at the first in Oslo on June 15, Slesarenko outlined her goals for the season. "My main competition will be the World Championships but, for now, I want to win all the competitions in the Golden League," the 25-year-old Russian said. "And, if I win here, I will jump in the next Golden League meeting in Rome. But, if I lose I don't know."

Slesarenko, who is unbeaten after three competitions this season, explained that she was concerned that, if she was to compete in Rome, it would clash with a time when she would prefer to be training towards the 11th IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan, next month. "I need more time for training for the World Championships because I have been jumping for one month without a rest," she said.

“If I compete in Rome I will have only a small amount of time for training. But I hope I win here and go on to Rome.” Slesarenko, twice World Indoor champion, in 2004 and 2006, is aiming towards appearing in the outdoor World Championships for the first time. Still an emerging athlete in 2003, she was not selected for the Paris World Championships that year, and she missed the 2005 edition in Helsinki through injury.

A stress fracture to her take-off leg in 2005, and a knee injury to her other leg, contributed towards her erratic form last year but now Slesarenko is firing on all cylinders again. Her personal best stands at 2.06 metres, which she set at the Athens Olympics, but after failing to go higher than 2.00 outdoors in 2005 and 2006, she has cleared 2.02 twice this year. Injuries permitting, she regards that as just the beginning.

“I dream of jumping a World record but, for this season, and if I have no problems with my health, I think I can clear the bar at 2.04, maybe 2.05.” Slesarenko showed impressive powers of concentration in Oslo when, with the track events finished, the infield was invaded by about 1000 young fans seeking a close-up view. No wonder that, asked in Paris to describe her main qualities, she said “hard-working and stubborn.”

Slesarenko hails from Volgograd, the city which also produced Yelena Isinbayeva, the Pole Vault World record holder, and Tatyana Lebedeva, who won all six Golden League Triple Jump competitions in 2005 to be sole winner that year of the $1m. How would Slesarenko spend the money if she was to beat Isinbayeva to becoming the second Jackpot winner from Volgograd?

"Maybe I would give some part to charity and maybe I would buy a house for my parents in Sochi - but, unfortunately, $1m would probably not be enough because today it is very expensive!" Slesarenko laughed as she noted that, suddenly, Sochi property prices had probably gone up. Only the night before, the Russian city had been named by the IOC as host for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

But, if the future of Sochi is as a winter wonderland, the present is as a haven for athletes. Not only does Tatyana Lysenko, the women's Hammer Throw World record holder, come from there, it is Slesarenko's favourite training venue. "It has a good stadium and climate for training in spring - a wonderful city," Slesarenko said. "I live in the Moscow region of Zykowsciy but train in Sochi every year for two or three months."

Slesarenko, who has won in Lille, Oslo and at the European Cup in Munich this season, recalled in Paris how she came to be a high jumper. It first caught her imagination when, at the age of six, she was watching Javier Sotomayor, the greatest men's high jumper in history, on television. "My father said that he jumps higher than the ceiling - at this time I fell in love with it," Slesarenko said.

The love was challenged some years later when Slesarenko applied to ballet school but was rejected because she was too young. "They told me to come back next year but I changed my mind. I did other events - 60 metres, 100 metres, Long Jump, Triple Jump - everything except Pole Vault." In the end, Slesarenko settled on the High Jump. Her record as reigning Olympic gold medallist, World Cup titleholder, and double World Indoor champion proves that she chose well.

David Powell for the IAAF