Posted: September 8, 2005

Athletics: Isinbayeva On World Records: 'It's Another Level And It's Very Difficult'

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

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MONTE CARLO – Being the world's preeminent force in an event doesn't preclude an element of pressure. For pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, it's not so much the pressure of not winning, but rather, the pressure of continually outdoing her own mind-boggling string of world records.

"It's a little bit of pressure for me," Isinbayeva said as she prepared to defend her World Athletics Final title. "Because for me to break the world record in each competition is really difficult."

Winning, as she has done in each of her 12 competitions this year, just isn't enough for fans who've become so accustomed to her raising the world record each time she hits the track. She's done just that in all but three of her competitions this year, most recently in Helsinki when she cleared 5.01 to capture her first world championship.

"In all competitions until Helsinki I had good form, really perfect form," she said. "But after Helsinki I've been a little bit tired." That weariness was apparent in her two competitions since, first at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels and again at last weekend's Moscow Challenge. But she'll certainly keep trying.

"I want to keep trying to [improve] one centimeter by one centimeter. Because now all heights above five meters are very difficult. It's another level and it's very difficult."

The women's pole vault is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. As last year, a world record bonus of $100,000 is on offer.

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