Pole-Vaulter Keeps a Low Profile During Her Ambitious Ascent

In many ways, Isinbayeva already has the arc of her career mapped out. Already, the girl who grew up in Volgograd, Russia, the daughter of working-class parents, has broken 19 world records (both indoor and outdoor) and won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. By the 2012 Olympics in London, which she says will be her swan song as a pole-vaulter (at age 30), she would like to have eclipsed the 35 world records that her male pole-vaulting counterpart, Sergei Bubka, set during his career.

It’s an ambitious plan. But Isinbayeva, who has cleared 16 feet 5¼ inches outdoors, has become so dominant in recent years that her greatest competitor is often herself.

“When you achieve everything,” she said, “in that moment it starts to become more difficult.”

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“I like that I can control my body,” she said. “I like to fly. I like those feelings when you’re over the bar. It’s more beautiful than other track and field events.”