Sergey Bubka facts for kids

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Sergey Bubka

Bubka in 2013
Personal information
Native name	Сергій Назарович Бубка
Full name	Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka
Nationality	Ukrainian
Born	(1963-12-04) 4 December 1963 (age 61) Luhansk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Education	PhD in pedagogy, physical culture
Alma mater	Ukrainian Academy of Pedagogical Science, Kyiv State Institute of Physical Culture
Years active	1981–2001
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Chair of the NOC of Ukraine
In office 23 June 2005 – 17 November 2022
Preceded by	Viktor Yanukovych
Succeeded by	Vadym Gutzeit
Sport
Country	Soviet Union (1981–1991)  Ukraine (1991–2001)
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Pole vault
Turned pro	1981
Coached by	Vitaly Petrov (first coach)
Retired	2001
Medal record Men's athletics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 6 0 0 World Indoor Championships 4 0 0 European Championships 1 0 0 European Indoor Championships 1 0 0 Goodwill Games 1 0 1 IAAF Grand Prix Final 7 1 1 IAAF World Cup 1 0 0 European Cup 1 1 0 Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games Gold 1988 Seoul Pole vault World Championships Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1983 Helsinki Pole vault Gold 1987 Rome Pole vault Gold 1991 Tokyo Pole vault Representing  Ukraine Gold 1993 Stuttgart Pole vault Gold 1995 Gothenburg Pole vault Gold 1997 Athens Pole vault World Indoor Championships Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1985 Paris Pole vault Gold 1987 Indianapolis Pole vault Gold 1991 Sevilla Pole vault Representing  Ukraine Gold 1995 Barcelona Pole vault European Championships Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1986 Stuttgart Pole vault European Indoor Championships Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1985 Athens Pole vault Goodwill Games Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1986 Moscow Pole vault Representing  Ukraine Bronze 1994 Saint Petersburg Pole vault IAAF Grand Prix Final Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1985 Rome Pole vault Gold 1987 Brussels Pole vault Gold 1991 Barcelona Pole vault Gold 1991 Barcelona Overall Bronze 1987 Brussels Overall Representing  Ukraine Gold 1993 London Pole vault Gold 1993 London Overall Gold 1997 Fukuoka Pole vault Silver 1995 Monaco Pole vault IAAF World Cup Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1985 Canberra Pole vault European Cup Representing the  Soviet Union Gold 1985 Moscow Pole vault Representing  Ukraine Silver 1993 Rome Pole vault
Updated on 8 September 2012.

Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (Ukrainian: Сергій Назарович Бубка; Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News, and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame.

Bubka won six consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal, and broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times. He was the first pole vaulter to clear 6.0 meters and 6.10 meters.

He held the indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine for almost 21 years until France's Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 meters on February 15, 2014, at the same meet in the same arena. He held the outdoor world record at 6.14 meters between July 31, 1994, and September 17, 2020.

Bubka is Senior Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), serving since 2007, and served as President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine from 2005 to November 2022. He is also an Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), having been involved since 1996. His older brother, Vasiliy Bubka, was also a medal-winning pole vaulter.

Biography

Born in Luhansk, Sergey Nazarovych Bubka was a track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but became a world-class champion only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, he won the world championship in Helsinki, Finland, and the following year set his first world record, clearing 5.85m (19 ft 2 in). Until the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. By 1992, he was no longer bound to the Soviet system, and signed a contract with Nike. that rewarded each world record performance with special bonuses of $40,000.

His son, Sergei Bubka (tennis) is a former professional tennis player.

From 2002 to 2006, Bubka was a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada with the Party of Regions group and until 2014 an advisor to Viktor Yanukovych. He was on the youth policy, physical culture, sport and tourism committee while a MVR.

Bubka has been linked to business conducted in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories. On 5 March 2022, Bubka professed his love for his homeland after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and declared: "Ukraine will win".

Sporting career

Sergey Bubka started competing on the international athletics scene in 1981 when he participated in the European Junior Championship finishing seventh. But the 1983 World Championship held in Helsinki was his actual entry point to the world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 meters (18 feet 8 inches). The years that followed witnessed the unparalleled dominance of Bubka, with him setting new records and standards in pole vaulting.

He set his first world record of 5.85m on 26 May 1984 which he improved to 5.88m a week later, and then to 5.90m a month later. He cleared 6.00 meters (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris. Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the then world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 13⁄4 inches) in 1994. He vaulted on UCS Spirit poles throughout his later career.

He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 meters, in San Sebastián, Spain in 1991. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimeters (8 inches) in the period from 1984 to 1994. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions.

Bubka officially retired from pole vault in 2001 during a ceremony at his Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk.

Olympics curse

The first Olympics after Bubka's introduction to the international athletics was held in 1984 and was boycotted by the USSR along with the majority of other Eastern Bloc countries. In 1988 Bubka competed in the Seoul Olympics and won his only Olympic gold medal clearing 5.90 meters. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first three attempts (5.70, 5.70, 5.75 meters) and was out of the Barcelona Olympics. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without any attempts. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, he was eliminated from the final after three unsuccessful attempts at 5.70 meters.

IAAF World championships

Bubka won the pole vault event in six consecutive IAAF World Championships in Athletics in the period from 1983 to 1997:

World record progression

Bubka broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times during his career. He broke the outdoor world record 17 times and the indoor world record 18 times. Bubka lost his outdoor world record only once in his career. After Thierry Vigneron, of France, broke his record on August 31, 1984 at the Golden Gala international track meet in Rome, Bubka subsequently reclaimed the record on his next attempt on the same runway minutes later.

Outdoor

Height	Date	Place
6.14 m (20 ft 1+11⁄16 in)	31 July 1994	Sestriere
6.13 m (20 ft 1+5⁄16 in)	19 September 1992	Tokyo
6.12 m (20 ft +7⁄8 in)	30 August 1992	Padua
6.11 m (20 ft +5⁄8 in)	13 June 1992	Dijon
6.10 m (20 ft +3⁄16 in)	5 August 1991	Malmö
6.09 m (19 ft 11+13⁄16 in)	8 July 1991	Formia
6.08 m (19 ft 11+3⁄8 in)	9 June 1991	Moscow
6.07 m (19 ft 11 in)	6 May 1991	Shizuoka
6.06 m (19 ft 10+5⁄8 in)	10 July 1988	Nice
6.05 m (19 ft 10+3⁄16 in)	9 June 1988	Bratislava
6.03 m (19 ft 9+3⁄8 in)	23 June 1987	Prague
6.01 m (19 ft 8+5⁄8 in)	8 June 1986	Moscow
6.00 m (19 ft 8+3⁄16 in)	13 June 1985	Paris
5.94 m (19 ft 5+7⁄8 in)	31 August 1984	Rome
5.90 m (19 ft 4+5⁄16 in)	13 July 1984	London
5.88 m (19 ft 3+1⁄2 in)	2 June 1984	Paris
5.85 m (19 ft 2+5⁄16 in)	26 May 1984	Bratislava

Indoor

Height	Date	Place
6.15 m (20 ft 2+1⁄8 in)	21 February 1993	Donetsk
6.14 m (20 ft 1+11⁄16 in)	13 February 1993	Lievin
6.13 m (20 ft 1+5⁄16 in)	22 February 1992	Berlin
6.12 m (20 ft +7⁄8 in)	23 March 1991	Grenoble
6.11 m (20 ft +5⁄8 in)	19 March 1991	Donetsk
6.10 m (20 ft +3⁄16 in)	15 March 1991	San Sebastián
6.08 m (19 ft 11+3⁄8 in)	9 February 1991	Volgograd
6.05 m (19 ft 10+3⁄16 in)	17 March 1990	Donetsk
6.03 m (19 ft 9+3⁄8 in)	11 February 1989	Osaka
5.97 m (19 ft 7 in)	17 March 1987	Turin
5.96 m (19 ft 6+5⁄8 in)	15 January 1987	Osaka
5.95 m (19 ft 6+5⁄16 in)	28 February 1986	New York City
5.94 m (19 ft 5+7⁄8 in)	21 February 1986	Inglewood
5.92 m (19 ft 5+1⁄8 in)	8 February 1986	Moscow
5.87 m (19 ft 3+1⁄8 in)	15 January 1986	Osaka
5.83 m (19 ft 1+1⁄2 in)	10 February 1984	Inglewood
5.82 m (19 ft 1+1⁄8 in)	1 February 1984	Milan
5.81 m (19 ft +11⁄16 in)	15 January 1984	Vilnius

Technique

Sergey Bubka statue, Donetsk

Bubka gripped the pole higher than most vaulters to get extra leverage, though Bubka himself played down the effect of grip alone.

His development of the Petrov/Bubka technical model is also considered a key to his success. The Petrov/Bubka model allows the vaulter to continuously put energy into the pole while rising towards the bar. Most conventional models focus on creating maximum bend in the pole before leaving the ground, by planting the pole heavily in the pole vault box. The Petrov/Bubka model follows the technique used by Kjell Isaksson, which concentrates on driving the pole up, rather than bending it while planting it on the landing pad, combined with high running speed. While the traditional models depended on the recoil by bending the pole, the Petrov/Bubka model may exploit the recoil of the pole and exert more energy on the pole during the swinging action.

Recognition

• L'Équipe Champion of Champions (1985)
• European Sportsperson of the Year (1985)
• Track & Field News Athlete of the Year (1988)
• Track & Field News Athlete of the Year (1991)
• United Press International Athlete of the Year Award (1991)
• Laureus World Sports Awards discretionary award winner (2008)

See also

In Spanish: Serguéi Bubka para niños

• 6 metres club