Female pole vault shaken

The world of female pole vault competition was shaken at the world track and field championships in Berlin last week, when champ Yelena Isinbayeva failed to even reach the podium. The 27-year-old Isinbayeva has won gold at the last two Olympic Games and the last two world championships. The winner of the female pole vault Anna Rogowska of Poland however paid tribute to Yelena: "She's still the best there is, still the only one of us to clear 5 meters. In London, I just thought she was going through a bad phase. And I thought, Well it's just a phase, and it will go away, and she'll be back to normal form for the world championships - which I thought she would win."



Yelena Isinbayeva bent over in grief after failing to clear a height of 4.80 metres, usually a routine standard for her (photo: Oliver Morin/AFP/Getty Images). Isinbayeva travelled back to her home in Monaco for some downtime immediately in the wake of her Berlin disaster. "My coach said he was in shock. He said: 'What's wrong with you? Your technique and run-up were good, but your body was there but mind was absent'.

"We analysed everything. He was too disappointed, but now we go forward and I am sure in the future it'll be okay," Isinbayeva said. "Maybe there was too much pressure from the fans, federation, coach... But now it's zero pressure. I have to start everything from beginning and prove myself again." She added: "This defeat changed my mind a lot. I value my sport more now. The defeat was necessary for future results."