Yelena Isinbayeva facts for kids

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Yelena Isinbayeva

Isinbayeva in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1982-06-03) 3 June 1982 (age 43) Volgograd, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight	65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
Country	Russia
Sport	Women's athletics
Event(s)	Pole vault
Club	CSKA Moscow
Coached by	Yevgeny Trofimov Vitaly Petrov
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 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 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 World Youth Championships 1 0 0 Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens Pole vault Gold 2008 Beijing Pole vault Bronze 2012 London Pole vault World Championships Gold 2005 Helsinki Pole vault Gold 2007 Osaka Pole vault Gold 2013 Moscow Pole vault Bronze 2003 Paris Pole vault World Indoor Championships Gold 2004 Budapest Pole vault Gold 2006 Moscow Pole vault Gold 2008 Valencia Pole vault Gold 2012 Istanbul Pole vault Silver 2003 Birmingham Pole vault World Cup Gold 2006 Athens Pole vault European Championships Gold 2006 Gothenburg Pole vault Silver 2002 Munich Pole vault European Indoor Championships Gold 2005 Madrid Pole vault European U23 Championships Gold 2003 Bydgoszcz Pole vault World Junior Championships Gold 2000 Santiago Pole vault European Junior Championships Gold 2001 Grosseto Pole vault World Youth Championships Gold 1999 Bydgoszcz Pole vault World Youth Games Gold 1998 Moscow Pole vault
Updated on 6 August 2012.

Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva (Russian: Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева; born 3 June 1982) is a famous Russian former pole vaulter. She is known as one of the greatest female pole-vaulters of all time. Yelena won two Olympic gold medals in 2004 and 2008. She also became a World Champion three times (2005, 2007, and 2013).

Yelena holds the current world record in pole vaulting. She was unable to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics. After this, she retired from athletics in August 2016. She was then chosen to be part of the IOC's Athletes' Commission for eight years.

Isinbayeva has won many major championships. She was a champion at the Olympics, World outdoor and indoor events, and European outdoor and indoor events. She also won the IAAF Golden League series in 2007 and 2009. After some tough competitions in 2009 and 2010, she took a break from the sport for a year.

In 2005, she made history by being the first woman to jump over five meters. Her outdoor world record is 5.06 meters, set in Zürich in August 2009. This record is still unbeaten as of 2024. Her indoor record of 5.01 meters was also a world record for over a year. This was her twenty-eighth pole vault world record.

Yelena Isinbayeva was named Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF in 2004, 2005, and 2008. She also received the World Sportswoman of the Year award from Laureus in 2007 and 2009. In 2009, she received the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports. She is one of only a few athletes to win World Championship titles at youth, junior, and senior levels.

Yelena's Early Life and First Competitions

Isinbayeva at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow

Yelena Isinbayeva was born in Volgograd, Russia. Her father is Tabasaran and her mother is Russian. From age 5 to 15, Yelena trained as a gymnast. She stopped gymnastics because she grew too tall to compete well in that sport. She reached a height of 1.74 meters (5 feet 8.5 inches).

Six months after starting pole vaulting, she won her first big competition. This was at the 1998 World Youth Games in Moscow, Russia. She was 16 years old and cleared 4.00 meters. This was only her third time competing in athletics. She jumped the same height at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Annecy, France. However, this was not enough for a medal.

In 1999, Yelena improved her jump at the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She cleared 4.10 meters and won her second gold medal.

At the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, Yelena won first place again. She cleared 4.20 meters, beating German athlete Annika Becker. In the same year, women's pole vault became an Olympic event in Sydney, Australia. Stacy Dragila of the United States won the gold medal. Yelena did not get past the first round in that Olympic event.

She won another gold medal in 2001 at the European Junior Championships. Her winning height was 4.40 meters.

Yelena kept getting better. In 2002, she cleared 4.55 meters at the 2002 European Athletics Championships. Here, she won her first senior championship medal, a silver. She finished just 5 centimeters behind her teammate Svetlana Feofanova.

Setting World Records and Winning Olympic Gold

The year 2003 was a big step forward for Isinbayeva. She won gold at the European Under 23 Championships with a jump of 4.65 meters. On 13 July 2003, shortly after her 21st birthday, Yelena set her first world record. This happened at a competition in Gateshead, England, with a height of 4.82 meters. This made her a favorite for the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. She ended up winning the bronze medal, while Feofanova took gold.

In 2004, Yelena set a new indoor world record of 4.83 meters in Donetsk, Ukraine. The next week, Feofanova jumped even higher. But at the World Indoor Championships in March, Yelena broke Feofanova's record. She won gold with a jump of 4.86 meters. The IAAF counted these indoor records as overall world records.

On 27 June, Yelena improved the world record to 4.87 meters in Gateshead. Feofanova broke it again the next week. But on 25 July, Yelena took the record back, jumping 4.89 meters in Birmingham, England. Five days later, in London, she added another centimeter to the record.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Yelena won the gold medal with a new world record of 4.91 meters. She broke the record again later that year in Brussels with a 4.92-meter jump. This was her eighth world record of the season. Yelena was named World Athlete of the Year for her Olympic and World Indoor titles and for breaking the world record eight times.

Becoming World and European Champion

At the European Indoor Championships in Madrid, Spain, Yelena won gold. She set a new indoor world record of 4.90 meters. In July 2005, Yelena broke the world record four times in three different competitions. In Lausanne, Switzerland, she added a centimeter to her record, clearing 4.93 meters. This was her 14th world record. Eleven days later, in Madrid, Spain, she added another 2 cm, clearing 4.95 meters. In Crystal Palace, London on 22 July, she improved the record to 4.96 meters. Then, she raised the bar to 5.00 meters. She became the first woman in history to clear the amazing five-meter height in pole vaulting. She did it on her first try.

Isinbayeva being interviewed after her victory at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka.

At the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, Yelena broke her own world record again. She jumped 5.01 meters on her second attempt. She won the competition by a huge 41 cm, the biggest winning difference ever in a World or Olympic pole vault event. This was her eighteenth world record. Her amazing season ended with her second World Athlete of the Year award.

On 12 February 2006, Yelena set a new indoor world record of 4.91 meters in Donetsk, Ukraine. In March, she successfully defended her World Indoor title in Moscow, Russia. At the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, she won the gold medal with a jump of 4.80 meters. This was the only gold medal she had not won yet. In September, she won the World Cup for Russia in Athens.

Yelena Isinbayeva was named Laureus World Sports Woman of the Year for her achievements in 2006.

More World and Olympic Gold Medals

On 10 February 2007, in Donetsk, Ukraine, Yelena Isinbayeva broke the world indoor pole vault record again. She cleared 4.93 meters. This was her 20th world record.

On 28 August 2007, Yelena won her second world championship in Osaka at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. She jumped 4.80 meters. She then tried three times to set a new world record at 5.02 meters but did not succeed. Her competitors did not jump higher than 4.75 meters.

Isinbayeva passing the bar in Osaka

In 2007, she also won the IAAF Golden League Jackpot. She won all six 2007 IAAF Golden League competitions. Yelena was unbeaten in 2007, winning all 18 competitions she entered.

In the 2008 indoor season, Yelena set her twenty-first world record. She cleared 4.95 meters on 16 February 2008 in Donetsk, Ukraine. A few weeks later, in Valencia, Spain, Yelena won the World Indoor Championships. She beat Jennifer Stuczynski. This was Yelena's third World Indoor title in a row.

On 11 July, at her first outdoor competition of the season in Rome, Yelena broke her own world record. She cleared 5.03 meters. This was her first outdoor world record since the 2005 World Championships. Yelena said she had tried 5.02 meters many times without success. Her coach told her to try something different, so she attempted 5.03 meters. This record came when some people thought she might be losing her top spot. American athlete Jennifer Stuczynski had cleared 4.92 meters. Yelena said this motivated her to stay the best female pole vaulter in the world. A few weeks later, at the Aviva London Grand Prix, Yelena and Stuczynski competed together. Yelena won, and Stuczynski was second. Both tried for a new world record of 5.04 meters. Yelena was very close on her last try.

She successfully cleared 5.04 meters on 29 July in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This was her twenty-third world record.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing on 18 August, Yelena needed two jumps to win her Olympic title again. She finished the competition with 5.05 meters, a world record at the time. This was her 24th world record.

On 23 November in Monaco, she was chosen World Athlete of the Year by the IAAF for the third time. She shared the award with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

Taking a Break and Returning to the Sport

In competition at the World Championships in Berlin

Yelena started the 2009 season by becoming the first woman to vault over 5 meters indoors. She first raised her indoor world record to 4.97 meters. Then, she raised the bar to 5.00 meters and cleared that height too. These two records were set at the Pole Vault Stars indoor meet on 15 February in Donetsk, Ukraine. This was the sixth year in a row she had set an indoor world record at this meet. She received the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements.

At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany, Yelena did not achieve a successful vault. The world champion was Anna Rogowska, who had also beaten her in London earlier. However, Yelena Isinbayeva broke her own women's pole vault world record at the Weltklasse Golden League meeting by clearing 5.06 meters. On 2 September, she received the 2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Sports.

Isinbayeva at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha

She hoped to do better at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She cleared her first height of 4.60 meters. But she struggled at 4.75 meters and finished in fourth place, outside the medals. After this, she decided to take a break from the sport. She said she needed time for her body to recover after many years of hard training.

She did not compete in the 2010 European Championships. Her teammate Svetlana Feofanova won instead. Yelena continued to train with Vitaliy Petrov in Monaco during her break. She returned to competition at the start of the 2011 indoor season. At the Russian Winter Meeting in February 2011, she showed she was back in form. She cleared 4.81 meters easily, beating Feofanava.

In March 2011, Yelena left her coach Vitaly Petrov. She returned to Volgograd to train with her first coach, Yevgeny Trofimov. He had coached her from age 15 until 2005. During the 2011 summer season, she competed in only a few events. On 29 July, she won the 2011 Diamond League meeting in Stockholm with a season best of 4.76 meters. However, at the World Championships in Daegu, she finished sixth with 4.65 meters, again outside the medals.

She started 2012 by clearing 4.70 meters at the Governor's Cup in Volgograd. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she easily reached the finals. There, she won a bronze medal with 4.70 meters. She saw the bronze medal as a success.

In 2016, during the Russian national championships, she made a world-leading jump of 4.90 meters. However, she was unable to take part in the Rio Olympics due to a ban on Russian track and field athletes. After this, she was elected to serve an 8-year term on the IOC's Athletes' Commission. She then announced her retirement from athletics.

In December 2016, Yelena Isinbayeva became the head of the board for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

Public Life and Views

Isinbayeva with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2009

In 2012, Yelena Isinbayeva became an official supporter for Vladimir Putin during the 2012 Russian presidential election. In November 2017, she joined PutinTeam, a group that supports Putin and his 2018 Russian presidential campaign.

After the Court of Arbitration for Sport made a decision about Russian athletes, Yelena Isinbayeva shared her strong feelings. She said, "Let all those pseudo clean foreign athletes breathe a sigh of relief and win their pseudo gold medals in our absence. They always did fear strength."

When she became the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's board, Rune Andersen, who leads the IAAF taskforce, commented on it. He noted that Yelena had called a report "groundless" without reading it.

Yelena Isinbayeva was an ambassador for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She welcomed athletes as a "mayor" of the Olympic Village there.

Personal Life

Isinbaeva receiving promotion to the rank of major from the Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu (2015)

Yelena's father, Gadzhi Gadzhiyevich Isinbayev, is a Tabasaran plumber. Her mother, a shop assistant, is Russian. Yelena also has a sister named Inna. Yelena came from a modest background. She remembers that her parents made many sacrifices to support her early career.

She has two children: a daughter named Eva, born on 28 June 2014, and a son named Dobrynya, born on 14 February 2018. She married Eva's father, javelin thrower Nikita Petinov (born 1990), before their daughter's birth. They had a wedding celebration on 12 December 2014. On 7 February 2014, while pregnant, Yelena was one of the final torch bearers for the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Yelena has both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from the Volgograd State Academy of Physical Culture. She is also studying at the Donetsk National Technical University.

In Russian club competitions, she represents the railroad military team. She is an officer in the Russian army. On 4 August 2005, she was given the military rank of senior lieutenant. In August 2008, she was promoted to captain. In 2015, she was promoted to the rank of major and signed a five-year contract with the Russian Armed Forces.

On 2 December 2010, she gave a speech to FIFA delegates in Zürich. Later, it was announced that Russia would host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Yelena Isinbayeva is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club. This group of 54 famous athletes works to promote peace through sport. The club was created by Peace and Sport, an international organization based in Monaco.

In July 2023, it was reported that Yelena Isinbayeva had gained Spanish citizenship. She also owned several properties in Spain.

Yelena's International Competitions

Isinbayeva celebrating her 2007 World Championships win.

Representing  Russia

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Result	Notes
1998	World Youth Games	Moscow, Russia	1st	4.00 m
	World Junior Championships	Annecy, France	9th	3.90 m
1999	World Youth Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	4.10 m	WYR
	European Junior Championships	Riga, Latvia	5th	4.05 m
2000	World Junior Championships	Santiago, Chile	1st	4.20 m	WJR
2001	European Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	1st	4.40 m	CR
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	2nd	4.55 m
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	2nd	4.60 m
	World Championships	Paris, France	3rd	4.65 m
	European U23 Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	4.65 m	CR
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	4.86 m	WR
	Summer Olympics	Athens, Greece	1st	4.91 m	WR
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	1st	4.83 m
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	1st	4.90 m	WRi
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	5.01 m	WR
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	1st	4.74 m
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	1st	4.80 m
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	4.80 m	CR
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	4.75 m
	World Cup	Athens, Greece	1st	4.60 m	CR
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	1st	4.80 m
	IAAF Golden League	Various	1st	6/6 Wins	Jackpot winner
	IAAF World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	4.87 m	CR
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	1st	4.75 m
	Summer Olympics	Beijing, China	1st	5.05 m	WR
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	—	NM
	IAAF Golden League	Various	1st	6/6 Wins	Jackpot winner
	World Athletics Final	Thessaloniki, Greece	1st	4.80 m
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	4.60 m
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	6th	4.65 m
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	1st	4.80 m
	Summer Olympics	London, United Kingdom	3rd	4.70 m
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	1st	4.89 m

Yelena's Competition Results

Isinbayeva with a winner's bouquet

• 2004
  • 1st – 4.83 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine
  • 1st – 4.86 m – World Indoor Championships, Budapest, Hungary (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.87 m – IAAF Gateshead, Great Britain (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.89 m – Birmingham International Meeting, Great Britain (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.90 m – British Grand Prix London, Great Britain (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.91 m – Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.92 m – Golden League Brussels, Belgium (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.83 m – 2nd World Athletics Final, Monte Carlo, Monaco

• 2005
  • 1st – 4.87 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine
  • 1st – 4.90 m – European Indoor Championships, Madrid, Spain
  • 1st – 4.93 m – IAAF Lausanne, Switzerland (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.95 m – Meeting de Madrid, Spain (World Record)
  • 1st – 5.00 m – IAAF London, Great Britain (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.79 m – IAAF Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1st – 5.01 m – World Championships, Helsinki, Finland (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.93 m – Golden League Brussels, Belgium
  • 1st – 4.74 m – 3rd World Athletics Final, Monte Carlo, Monaco

• 2006
  • 1st – 4.91 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine (Indoor World Record)
  • 1st – 4.79 m – Norwich Union Grand Prix, Birmingham, Great Britain
  • 1st – 4.72 m – Meeting Gaz de France du Pas-de-Calais, Lievin, France
  • 1st – 4.80 m – World Indoor Championships, Moscow, Russia
  • 1st – 4.76 m – IAAF Paris Saint-Denis, France
  • 1st – 4.90 m – IAAF Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 1st – 4.91 m – IAAF London, Great Britain
  • 1st – 4.80 m – European Championships, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 1st – 4.81 m – Golden League Brussels, Belgium
  • 1st – 4.75 m – 4th World Athletics Final, Stuttgart, Germany

• 2007
  • 1st – 4.93 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine (Indoor World Record)
  • 1st – 4.91 m – Meeting Gaz De France, Paris, France
  • 1st – 4.90 m – Golden League Rome, Italy
  • 1st – 4.82 m – Norwich Union Super Grand Prix, London, Great Britain
  • 1st – 4.80 m – World Championships, Osaka, Japan
  • 1st – Golden League Brussels, Belgium
  • 1st – 4.87 m – 5th World Athletics Final, Stuttgart, Germany

• 2008
  • 1st – 4.95 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine (Indoor World Record)
  • 1st – 4.75 m – World Indoor Championships, Valencia, Spain
  • 1st – 5.03 m – Golden Gala, Rome, Italy (World Record)
  • 1st – 5.04 m – Super Grand Prix, Monte Carlo, Monaco (World Record)
  • 1st – 5.05 m – Summer Olympics, Beijing, China (World Record)
  • 1st – 4.88 m – IAAF Zürich, Switzerland

• 2009
  • 1st – 5.00 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine (Indoor World Record)
  • 1st – 4.82 m – Aviva Grand Prix, Birmingham, Great Britain
  • 1st – 4.83 m – ISATF Berlin, Germany
  • 1st – 4.65 m – Meeting Gaz de France, Paris, France
  • 2nd – 4.68 m – Aviva London Grand Prix, London, Great Britain
  • no height recorded – World Championships, Berlin, Germany
  • 1st – 5.06 m – IAAF Golden League, Zürich, Switzerland (World Record)

• 2010
  • 1st – 4.85 m – Russian Winter Meeting, Moscow, Russia
  • 1st – 4.85 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine
  • 4th – 4.60 m – World Indoor Championships, Doha, Qatar

• 2011
  • 1st – 4.81 m – Russian Winter Meeting, Moscow, Russia
  • 1st – 4.85 m – Pole Vault Stars, Donetsk, Ukraine
  • 1st – 4.60 m – Night of Athletics, Heusden, Belgium
  • 1st – 4.76 m – Diamond League, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 6th – 4.65 m – World Championships, Daegu, South Korea

• 2012
  • 1st – 5.01 m – XL-Galan, Stockholm, Sweden (Indoor World Record)
  • 1st – 4.80 m – World Indoor Championships, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 3rd – 4.70 m – Summer Olympic, London, Great Britain

• 2013
  • 1st – 4.78 m – Ostrava Meeting, Ostrava, Czech Republic
  • 1st – 4.75 m – Russian National Championship, Moscow, Russia
  • 1st – 4.89 m – World Championships, Moscow, Russia

• 2016
  • 1st – 4.90 m – Russian National Championship, Cheboksary, Russia

Yelena's World Record Progression

Yelena Isinbayeva set 17 outdoor world records and 13 indoor world records. Some of her indoor records were also counted as overall world records.

Yelena's Records List

(Records in bold are current ones.)

See also

In Spanish: Yelena Isinbáyeva para niños

• List of Olympic medalists in athletics (women)
• List of 2004 Summer Olympics medal winners
• List of 2008 Summer Olympics medal winners
• List of 2012 Summer Olympics medal winners
• List of World Athletics Championships medalists (women)
• List of IAAF World Indoor Championships medalists (women)
• List of European Athletics Championships medalists (women)
• List of European Athletics Indoor Championships medalists (women)
• List of pole vault national champions (women)
• List of members of the International Olympic Committee
• List of 2009 all-decade Sports Illustrated awards and honors
• List of Russian people
• List of Russian sportspeople
• List of people from Volgograd
• List of sportswomen
• Pole vault at the Olympics
• Pole vault at the World Championships in Athletics
• Five metres club