Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva is a Russian pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist, a five-time World Champion and the current world record holder in the event.
As a result of her accomplishments, she is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time.
Hobbies:
Reading about Russian history and philosophy, listening to music, meeting friends and relatives, collecting models of dolphins.
Occupation: Athlete
Education: Physical Education – Volgograd State Academy of Physical Education, Volgograd, RUS
Language(s) spoken: English, Italian, Russian
Club name: Dinamo, Russia
Coach: Yevgeny Trofimov (RUS) from 2011
Debut: 1998 for Russia
Additional information
Start of sporting career:
She took up the sport when she was 15 years old.
Reason for taking up this sport:
At the age of five she started artistic gymnastics at a sports school but in 1997 she had to leave the school. She did not give up sports and took up pole vaulting on the advice of her gymnastics coach Alexander Lisovoy. After just one year she won gold in the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow.
Ambitions:
She would like to win a third Laureus Award.
Most memorable sporting achievement:
Her 2004 and 2008 Olympic gold medals.
Superstitions / Rituals:
She likes using different colours on her poles: she clears the starting height with pink, the winning height with blue and the world record height with the golden colour on her pole.
Awards:
In 2010 she was named female Athlete of the Decade by Track & Field News Magazine.
In November 2008 she was named IAAF Athlete of the Year.
She shared the 2007 IAAF Golden League Jackpot of USD$1,000,000 with 400m runner Sanya Richards from the USA.
She was named 2007 and 2009 Sportswoman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
She was named 2004 and 2005 Female Athlete of the Year by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
She holds the national sports title of Honoured Master of Sport.
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