Russia's Svetlana Feofanova flying high again

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http://www.european-athletics.org/index ... 1&Itemid=2

Russia's Svetlana Feofanova flying high again

24.03.2010
Svetlana Feofanova was world No. 1 in the women's Pole Vault in 2002 and 2003, before the emergence of the phenomenal Yelena Isinbayeva. However, the Russian former world record holder has not given up hope that one day she will be back on top again.

At the recent World Indoor Championships, Feofanova scaled 4.80m, her best indoor result for six years since she set a world indoor record of 4.85m in 2004.

It was good enough to get the silver medal in Doha, losing only on count-back to Brazil's Fabiana Murer who cleared the same height, and gave her plenty of motivation that she can regain the European Athletics Championships title she won in 2002.

"Of course, I will be in Barcelona this summer for the European Athletics Championships. There would be no point even thinking about competing at all if I didn't want to go there. It's the biggest competition of the year for me," joked Feofanova.

Taking into account her European crown eight years ago and also her recent World Indoor Championships silver medal - her fifth medal at the event including a victory in 2003 - Feofanova now has 13 world or European medals to her name.

"Of course, I would have liked to have won in Doha but second was fine. I felt good at 4.80m. I knew I was capable of jumping higher but I think I got too excited. I said to myself, 'I am in shape, I can do it,' but I think I got carried away (when the bar went up to 4.85m) and hurried my jumps. I think I can say that my excessive desire was interfering with my technique.

"I have a personal best indoors of 4.85m and outdoors it's 4.88m, both date from 2004 and were world records, but I have the feeling that I can still jump 4.90m and above. It all depends on me," she added.

There is also the inevitable question about her thoughts on Yelena Isinbayeva's demise in Doha, when she could only finish fourth following on from her spectacular failure in Berlin.

Isinbayeva has now lost both her world titles in the space of little more than six months.

"It's probably not my business to comment on Yelena's situation but she can definitely come back. I came back after some injuries. The main thing that she needs is a real desire and goal.

"If she has that then everything is possible, but that's life, everyone has their own troubles," commented Feofanova, not wishing to dwell too long on the negative issues surrounding her compatriot and rival despite the fact that they could work to her advantage at the European Athletics Championships.

Svetlana Feofanova was world No. 1 in the women's Pole Vault in 2002 and 2003, before the emergence of the phenomenal Yelena Isinbayeva. However, the Russian former world record holder has not given up hope that one day she will be back on top again.

Four years ago in Göteborg, Russia topped the medal table with 34 medals, 12 of them were gold including a victory by Isinbayeva in the Pole Vault, when Feofanova had to settle for fourth place.

This time around, there are fears that the Russian haul will not be as prolific but Feofanova, the Russian team captain in Doha, isn't worried about the long-term health of elite athletics in her country.

"We have a young team at the moment, many them are just out of the junior ranks, and the difference between junior and senior competitions such as the World and European Championships is just huge. But soon, these guys will pick up the experience, and we will be fine," she added, giving a warning that Russia will still be a power to be reckoned with in Barcelona.

Thanks to Natalia Maryanchik of the All Sport agency (Russia) for her help with this article.