Yelena Isinbayeva on the rise to her 5m vault - London (© Getty Images)
Before the start of the World Championships, Yelena Isinabayeva of Russia looks like a sure winner – although in Pole Vault, history shows there are no certainties.
Isinbayeva was unbeatable last year and in the last weeks and months, she has shown no signs of losing her command of her event. After a superb indoor season she vaulted a new World record of 4.93m in her first outdoor competition this year in Lausanne. In Madrid, she added another two centimetres (4.95).
In London on July 22 she became the first woman in history to clear the bar at 5.00m. She first cleared the bar at 4.96 (a new World record) and then took the historic height on her first attempt. Improving her World record by five centimetres in one night, she also put an end to some cynical remarks about her making as much money as she can by raising the bar by 1 cm each time.
Isinbayeva is not a machine that performs constantly at the same level. In poor conditions at Rethymno in Greece she had to be happy with 4.70m, and in chilly weather at the Stockholm GP she cleared only 4.76m. She did unsuccessfully try World records in both of these meetings. Nevertheless, even her routine performances are in a class of her own, and she can win even after fumbling early on in a competition.
The gap between Isinbayeva and the others is even more clear in the absence of Svetlana Feofanova, the World champion from Paris 2003 and the Olympic silver medallist. At the Russian Championships, 4.50m was enough for Tatyana Polnova to win the title and secure a place in the Russian team.
If anyone is to beat Isinbayeva in Helsinki, the honour will probably go to Poland – the strongest candidates are Anna Rogowska and Monika Pyrek. Earlier this year, the two Poles took silver and bronze from the European Indoor Championships, and of course Rogowsak is the Olympic bronze medallist, and Pyrek was the third placer at the Worlds of 2001.
In London when Isinbayeva vaulted 5.00m, Rogowska gave her a good competition and even made her own attempts at World record height. But she did set the Polish record of 4.80m to better her 4.76m set earlier in the season. The experienced Monika Pyrek cleared 4.70m in June and she beat Rogowska at Kassel.
There will also be tough competition from across the Atlantic.
Tracy O’Hara and Stacy Dragila of the United States will fight for World Championship medals. O’Hara vaulted her PB of 4.60m in May, and at Lausanne, the former World record holder Dragila reached 4.60m as well. Dragila was the first woman to win a World Championship or Olympic title in Pole Vault, and she is likely to finish among the top six vaulters in the final.
One of the rising stars of the event is Vanessa Boslak of France, who has cleared 4.60m. Canadian Dana Ellis has vaulted 4.51m this season. Thorey Edda Elisdottir of Iceland has cleared 4.50m and she is a tough competitor, just like the Czech Pavla Hamackova, whose season best is 4.51m.
Helsinki 2005 media team
