Elena Isinbayeva

Yelena Isinbayeva
Елена Исинбаева

Isinbayeva in Moscow, 2013
Personal information
Full name	Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1982-06-03) 3 June 1982 (age 35) Volgograd, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
Country	Russia
Sport	Track and field athletics
Event(s)	Pole vault
Coached by	Yevgeny Trofimov
Retired	20 August 2016
Achievements and titles
World finals	Outdoor: 2003, 2005, 2007 Indoor: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008
Regional finals	Outdoor: 2002, 2006 Indoor: 2005
Olympic finals	2004, 2008
Highest world ranking	1st (2005–2009)
Personal best(s)	Outdoor: 5.06 WR (2009) indoor: 5.01 ER(2012)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Russia Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 1 World Championships 3 0 1 World Indoor Championships 4 1 0 World Cup 1 0 0 World Athletics Final 5 0 0 European Championships 1 1 0 European Indoor Championships 1 0 0 European U23 Championships 1 0 0 World Junior Championships 1 0 0 European Junior Championships 1 0 0 Olympic Games 2004 Athens Pole vault 2008 Beijing Pole vault 2012 London Pole vault World Championships 2005 Helsinki Pole vault 2007 Osaka Pole vault 2013 Moscow Pole vault 2003 Paris Pole vault World Indoor Championships 2004 Budapest Pole vault 2006 Moscow Pole vault 2008 Valencia Pole vault 2012 Istanbul Pole vault 2003 Birmingham Pole vault World Cup 2006 Athens Pole vault World Athletics Final 2004 Monaco Pole vault 2005 Monaco Pole vault 2006 Stuttgart Pole vault 2007 Stuttgart Pole vault 2009 Thessaloniki Pole vault European Championships 2006 Gothenburg Pole vault 2002 Munich Pole vault European Indoor Championships 2005 Madrid Pole vault European U23 Championships 2003 Bydgoszcz Pole vault World Junior Championships 2000 Santiago Pole vault European Junior Championships 2001 Grosseto Pole vault World Youth Championships 1999 Bydgoszcz Pole vault
Updated on 6 August 2012.

Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva (Russian: Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева; IPA: [jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə]; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 2008), a three-time World Champion (2005, 2007 and 2013), the current world record holder in the event, and is widely considered the greatest female pole-vaulter of all time. Isinbayeva, who has never failed a drug test, was banned from 2016 Rio Olympics, after allegations of an extensive state sponsored doping program in the Russian Federation, thus dashing her hopes of a grand retirement winning the Olympic gold medal. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission.

Isinbayeva has been a major champion on nine occasions (Olympic, World outdoor and indoor champion and European outdoor and indoor champion). She was also the jackpot winner of the IAAF Golden League series in 2007 and 2009. After poor performances at the world championships in 2009 and 2010, she took a year-long break from the sport.

She became the first woman to clear the five-metre barrier in 2005. Her current world record is 5.06 m outdoors, set in Zurich in August 2009. Her 5.01 m indoors was the world record for just over a year. The latter was Isinbayeva's twenty-eighth pole vault world record. On 2 March 2013, Jenn Suhr joined Isinbayeva as the only women who have cleared 5 metres. In the process, Suhr took Isinbayeva's indoor world record.

Isinbayeva was named Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF in 2004, 2005 and 2008, and World Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus in 2007 and 2009. In 2007 she entered in the FICTS "Hall of Fame" and was awarded with "Excellence Guirlande D'Honneur". She was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2009. She is one of only nine athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jacques Freitag, Kirani James, Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels, and David Storl) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.