The Russian scoffs at the idea that American Jenn Stuczynski is in her league.
Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbaeva thinks she's above the rest
BEIJING -- Yelena Isinbaeva, the czarina of the pole vault, treats her major rival in Monday's final the way the Russian royals once did their serfs.
In a video distributed by Adidas, her footwear and apparel sponsor, the Russian cackled at the idea that anyone is in her league.
Asked if she were annoyed by media suggestions that U.S. vaulter Jenn Stuczynski was a challenger after her U.S. record vault of 16 feet, 3/4 inch (4.90 meters) this season, Isinbaeva was utterly dismissive.
"I can stay quiet when they are right, but when they are wrong, why should I stay quiet?" Isinbaeva asked. "They said 'Wooooo' when she jumped 4.90, but I jumped this height four years ago. It is nothing special."
While Stuczynski improved her U.S. record to 16-1 3/4 at the Olympic trials July 6, Isinbaeva has upped her world record twice since then, to 16-6 1/2 . She now has 23 world record vaults, closing in on her goal of matching pole vault czar Sergey Bubka's 35.
She has eight career vaults higher than Stuczynski's best, and she beat the U.S. vaulter by 3 inches in their lone meeting this season, at the July 25 Grand Prix meet in London.
"I know if I do my best it is impossible for someone to beat me," Isinbaeva said before last year's worlds.
And this year? "No, no chance," she said on the video.
There is no arguing that.
Beginning with the 2004 World Indoor Championships, she has won every possible major international competition -- 13 straight. That includes the 2004 Olympics, two world outdoor titles, two world indoors, two European indoors, one European outdoor, one World Cup and four World Athletics Series finals.
Isinbaeva is as good as her words.
