Isinbaeva and Feofanova had improved Dragila’s world record of 4.81
on eight occasions, with six records attributable to Isinbaeva. They
were expected to dispute the gold medal, with the gymnastic excellence
of Feofanova pitted against the athleticism and power of Isinbaeva. The
biggest surprise of the event was the defending champion’s failure to
qualify at 4.40.
The Olympic record of 4.60 fell initially to Rogowska who cleared
4.65 first time, and she was soon joined by Feofanova and Isinbaeva.
Isinbaeva then had a failure at 4.70, after the other two cleared first
time. Isinbaeva had another failure at the next height, and passed to
4.80 when Feofanova cleared 4.75 second time. There were distinct
shades of Sergey Bubka winning the 1988 title with his last attempt at
5.90. Isinbaeva duly soared over 4.80, and the dismayed Feofanova
then moved to 4.85 without success, and when Isinbaeva cleared (now
on August 24 at three minutes past midnight), Feofanova tried at 4.90.
She missed, and Isinbaeva had the bar moved up one centimetre to a
new world record, which she cleared. Her statement that she had
cleared 5.00 in training seemed wholly plausible, it was a height she
could probably have cleared that night, but she rested on her laurels
with the dual pleasure of Olympic gold and a world record.
Russia
Poland
Iceland
France
Ukraine
Spain
Canada
Czechia
Argentina
Germany
Hungary
United States
Greece
China
Bulgaria
New Zealand
Slovenia
Chile
Australia
Switzerland
Cyprus
Japan
