Isinbayeva record thrills crowd
Friday, 22 July 2005 21:53Yelena Isinbayeva's historical victory with a five-metre pole vault clearance thrilled the capacity 18,000 crowd at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.
The performance, ranking on a par with Jim Hines' first sub 10-seconds 100m, Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile and Sergey Bubka's six-metre pole vault, was the highlight of a memorable meeting.
Isinbayeva has always insisted she would win the race to become the first woman to reach the highly-significant height and, with her 17th world record indoors and outdoors, she achieved a burning ambition.
It was the fourth time outdoors this month the Olympic champion had raised the mark.
The sequence began with a 4.93m clearance in Lausanne on July 5 and a 2cm improvement in Madrid last Sunday.
Isinbayeva tonight cleared 4.70m and 4.80m first time, the stuttered on her first world record effort at 4.96m but the second vault saw her well clear of the bar.
The only surprise was that Isinbayeva, with a cheque for US50,000 dollars already in her possession, then decided to have the bar raised by 4cm.
"It was my dream to be the first woman to be over five metres," said Isinbayeva affectionately hugged by Bubka, whose own world pole vault record of 6.15m has stood untroubled for 12 years.
"I can't explain my feelings, I love the run-up and the stadium here," said Isinbayeva, delighted the helpful weather and enthusiastic crowd offered her so much encouragement.
She admitted: "I don't know how much higher I can go - maybe 5.05m."
"I think she's unique," said Bubka, full of praise at her massive achievement after presenting her prize.
"To jump five metres is something special and I think she can jump higher.
"I want her to break my record," added Bubka.
