By Xinhua,
Rome : Russian Yelena Isinbayeva claimed her first pole vault world record in nearly three years, setting a new mark of 5.03 meters at the Golden Gala athletics meet here.
The 26-year-old, who has dominated the pole vault since winning the 2004 Olympic title, smashed her previous record of 5.01m, which she set at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships.
“I think you saw that I wasn’t near the bar, I was higher,” the world and Olympic champion told a news conference after conquering the record height with ease. “This is just the beginning.”
She had repeatedly tried to clear 5.02m over the past few seasons and decided with her new coach Vitaly Petrov that she had to make a switch to give herself a psychological boost.
Isinbayeva, having set 12 world records outdoors and 10 indoors and is the only woman to clear 5 meters, has worked hard to overcome the physical and psychological problems that stopped her from improving on the record since 2005. This was her first outdoor meet this year.