Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia gets ready to compete in Daegu (© Getty Images)
World record holder Yelena Isinbayeva sent out a clear message that she is determined to again be the powerhouse of women's pole vaulting when qualifying for what will be her fifth appearance in an IAAF World Championships final.
Isinbayeva has happy memories of the first three appearances. In Paris six years ago she finished third shortly before catapulting and becoming the most dominant performer in the world with successes at the 2005 and 2007 Championships as well as capturing gold medals at the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games.
But even a superstar like Isinbayeva is human and susceptible and the 29-year-old's world came crashing down two years ago in Berlin when to the astonishment of her rivals she no-heighted in the final and surrendered her title to Poland's Anna Rogowska.
Revenge for that defeat coming into Daegu 2011 is a word which the courteous and diplomatic Russian has never used. Indeed the respect for her stature from fellow athletes of all disciplines saw her signing autographs for 30 minutes before she could eat a first breakfast in the Athletes Village on Friday.
At the same time the holder of 15 outdoor and 12 indoor World records has made it pretty clear she wants her crown back and Isinbayeva, after taking a year out last summer to recharge her batteries, has returned very confidently despite a couple of minor problems.
A victory in Heusden, Belgium, was followed by a no-height in Lignano, Italy, then a fall on the warm up track in Lucerne which saw her a non-starter. But she finally sent out a definitive message she is again a formidable force in Stockholm.
Isinbayeva at the Samsung Diamond League/DN Galan meet at the end of July convincingly defeated many of her arch rivals for the gold medal here on Tuesday night notably Brazil's IAAF World indoor champion Fabiana Murer and 2011 World leader Jenn Suhr of the USA.
This morning Suhr of that trio was first to enter the competition with the bar at 4.50m. The Olympic silver medallist who has been suffering from a stomach and back complaint endured a nervous period before getting clear with her third and final attempt. Then she went over 4.55m at her first attempt.
That was the height that Isinbayeva and Murer joined in the competition for one of the 12 places in the final and both achieved their target without any mishaps. With both "A" and "B" groups having been whittled down there was no need for anyone to go for the automatic qualifier of 4.60m.
With no major upsets the trio were joined in what should be a very high quality final by other medal candidates including Rogowska. She showed she is fully recovered from the awful accident when she badly cut her left hand which needed eight stitches when her pole snapped and kept her out of action from 29 June until 20 July.
The finalists will also include other Top 10 ranked performers Martina Strutz and Silke Spiegelburg of Germany, Russia's former champion Svetlana Feofanova, Nikolia Kiriakopoulou from Greece and Cuban Yarisley Silva.
David Martin for the IAAF
