Sergei Bubka
Sergei Bubka
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Bubka won 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympics gold and broke the world record for men's pole vaulting 35 times (17 outdoor and 18 indoor records). He was the first to clear 6.0 metres and the first and only (as of March 2010) to clear 6.10 metres (20 ft).
He holds the current outdoor world record of 6.14 metres (20 feet 1 3/4 inches), set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere, Italy and the current indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Born in Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, Bubka was a good track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but he became a world-class competitor only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, virtually unknown in international meets, he won the world championship at Helsinki, Finland, and the following year he set his first world record, clearing 5 m 75 cm (19 ft 2 in). Until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. The Soviet sports system rewarded athletes for setting new world records, and he became noted for establishing new records by slim amounts, sometimes as little as a centimeter higher. This allowed him to collect frequent bonus payments and made Bubka an attraction at track-and-field meets.
He has a son who is a professional tennis player by the name Sergei Bubka.
Serhiy Bubka entered international athletics in 1981 participating in the European Junior Championships where he reached 7th place. But the 1983 World Championships held in Helsinki proved to be his actual entry point to the mainstream world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 metres (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 metres (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris. This height had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the current world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 1 3/4 inches) in 1994.
He was the first (and as of October, 2009, the only) athlete ever to jump over 6.10 metres, in San Sebastián, Spain in 1991. He set the current world record of 6.14 metres in 1994 after some commentators had already predicted the decline of the great sportsman. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the 4 years between 1984 and 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history combined (as of 20 April 2009 there have been 42 clearances of 6.00 metres by other athletes).
Bubka officially retired from his pole vault career in 2001.
Bubka won the pole vault event in 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships In Athletics from 1983 to 1997:
Though he had complete dominance on pole vaulting at his time, he was highly unlucky in the Olympic Games. The first Olympics after his introduction into international athletics was in 1984, which was boycotted by the USSR along with the other Eastern Bloc countries. Two months before the games he vaulted 12 cm higher than the eventual Olympic gold medal winner Pierre Quinon. In 1988 Bubka entered the Seoul Olympics and won his only Olympic gold medal. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first 3 attempts and was out of the Barcelona Olympics. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without making even one jump. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics he was eliminated from the final after three attempts at 5.70 m.
He holds the current outdoor world record of 6.14 metres (20 feet 1 3/4 inches), set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere, Italy and the current indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Born in Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, Bubka was a good track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but he became a world-class competitor only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, virtually unknown in international meets, he won the world championship at Helsinki, Finland, and the following year he set his first world record, clearing 5 m 75 cm (19 ft 2 in). Until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. The Soviet sports system rewarded athletes for setting new world records, and he became noted for establishing new records by slim amounts, sometimes as little as a centimeter higher. This allowed him to collect frequent bonus payments and made Bubka an attraction at track-and-field meets.
He has a son who is a professional tennis player by the name Sergei Bubka.
Serhiy Bubka entered international athletics in 1981 participating in the European Junior Championships where he reached 7th place. But the 1983 World Championships held in Helsinki proved to be his actual entry point to the mainstream world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 metres (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 metres (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris. This height had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the current world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 1 3/4 inches) in 1994.
He was the first (and as of October, 2009, the only) athlete ever to jump over 6.10 metres, in San Sebastián, Spain in 1991. He set the current world record of 6.14 metres in 1994 after some commentators had already predicted the decline of the great sportsman. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the 4 years between 1984 and 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history combined (as of 20 April 2009 there have been 42 clearances of 6.00 metres by other athletes).
Bubka officially retired from his pole vault career in 2001.
Bubka won the pole vault event in 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships In Athletics from 1983 to 1997:
Though he had complete dominance on pole vaulting at his time, he was highly unlucky in the Olympic Games. The first Olympics after his introduction into international athletics was in 1984, which was boycotted by the USSR along with the other Eastern Bloc countries. Two months before the games he vaulted 12 cm higher than the eventual Olympic gold medal winner Pierre Quinon. In 1988 Bubka entered the Seoul Olympics and won his only Olympic gold medal. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first 3 attempts and was out of the Barcelona Olympics. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without making even one jump. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics he was eliminated from the final after three attempts at 5.70 m.
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