Legendary pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva feels Indian athletes will soon emerge in pole vaulting

What's the story?

Legendary pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia feels that India will soon emerge in the sport.

The background

Isinbayeva is regarded as one of the best pole vaulter of all time. The 37-year-old has two Olympic gold medals to her name (2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing) in addition to three Wolrd Championships gold medals (2005 Helsinki, 2007 Osaka, and 2013 Moscow). The renowned athlete from Russia also has four gold medals at the World Indoor Championships (2004 Budapest, 2006 Moscow, 2008 Valencia, and 2012 Istanbul); one gold at the World Cup (2006 Athens); and five gold medals at the World Athletics Finals.

Isinbayeva is the current world record holder in women's pole vault and set the record on 28 August 2009 in Zurich, Switzerland with a jump of 5.06m (16 ft 7 in). She was virtually unbeatable between 2004 and 2009, her glory years.

The former pole vaulter was also elected as The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Athlete of the Year in 2004, 2005 and 2008. The highly decorated track and field athlete retired on 20 August 2016.

The heart of the matter

Yelena Isinbayeva has said that Indians will soon emerge in pole vaulting. On the sidelines of the 20th anniversary of Laureus Sports Awards, the former pole vaulter told ANI:

"Maybe we will see some Indians emerging in the sport, eight years ago I never imagined players from Venezuela taking up the sport, but now more and more players are taking a special liking to the sport. You never know when the Indian athletes will show up. Indian fans have always supported me, I am grateful and I wish you all a lot of love."

The legend, expressed her excitement about the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020 added:

"I am looking forward to the Olympic Games in 2020. We already know that Tokyo is well prepared and they always run ahead of schedule, the weather will be hopefully fine. I am really looking forward to being there as an IOC member."

What's next?

Yelena Isinbayeva is an iconic athlete and a Pole Vault legend. It remains to be seen how many Indians will be inspired to take up the track and field sport after her encouraging words.