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Yelena Isinbayeva

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Yelena Isinbayeva is a legendary athlete from Russia.

Isinbayeva
Isinbayeva

She is famous for the pole vault. In this sport, athletes use a long pole to jump over a high bar. Many people call her the greatest female pole vaulter ever. She won two Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008. She also won three World Championship titles.

Isinbayeva Berlin 2009
Isinbayeva Berlin 2009

Her many wins brought her great pride and many awards. She was named World Athlete of the Year three times. She also won the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award twice.

Isinbayeva was a master of her sport. She broke the world record 28 different times.

Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva 4m80 jump
Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva 4m80 jump

In 2005, she did something amazing. She became the first woman to clear the five-metre barrier. This was a huge goal for many athletes. She also set a huge outdoor record of 5.06 metres in Zürich in 2009. This record was still unbeaten as of 2024. She was very skilled at jumping higher and higher.

Her journey started with a change in sports. She was born in Volgograd to a Russian mother and a Tabasaran father. From age 5 to 15, she trained as a gymnast.

However, she grew too tall to stay competitive in gymnastics. She switched to pole vaulting instead. Only six months after starting, she won a major victory. At age 16, she won the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow. She cleared 4.00 metres during that competition.

Isinbayeva competed in many famous places around the world. She won gold in Athens at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Celebrating
Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Celebrating

She also won in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. She won many indoor and outdoor titles in cities like Donetsk, Ukraine. She competed in many meetings in London, England and Madrid, Spain. In 2007, she won the IAAF Golden League jackpot. This means she won every single meeting in that series. It was a very hard job to do.

She is part of a very special group of athletes. She is one of only eleven people to win titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels.

This shows how she was great even as a young person. After her sports career, she joined the Athletes' Commission for the IOC. She was elected to serve an eight-year term there. She retired from athletics in August 2016. Her life shows how much skill and hard work can lead to greatness.

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🖼️ Images & Media (9)
File:Isinbayeva.jpg
Isinbayeva.jpg
File:Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Interviewed.jpg
Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Interviewed.jpg
File:Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva 4m80 jump.jpg
Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva 4m80 jump.jpg
File:Isinbayeva Berlin 2009.jpg
Isinbayeva Berlin 2009.jpg
File:Yelena Isinbayeva Doha 2010 (cropped 2).jpg
Yelena Isinbayeva Doha 2010 (cropped 2).jpg
File:Dmitry Medvedev and Yelena Isinbayeva (cropped).jpg
Dmitry Medvedev and Yelena Isinbayeva...
File:Shoigu, Isinbaeva.jpg
Shoigu, Isinbaeva.jpg
File:Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Celebrating.jpg
Osaka07 D4A Isinbayeva Celebrating.jpg
File:Isinbaeva.JPG
Isinbaeva.JPG
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