Yelena Isinbayeva Pre-Olympic Articles

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.rt.com/sport/isinbayeva-pole ... n2012-729/


Isinbayeva’s form raises Olympics questions
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Published: 21 July, 2012, 01:45

Russian pole vault queen Elena Isinbayeva says she’s physically and mentally ready for London 2012, despite a disappointing display at the Diamond League event on Friday.

Isinbayeva missed out on the podium in Monaco after failing in all three attempts on the starting 4.70-meter mark.

"I was ready to jump, but everything went differently to what was expected,” she told AP. "I'm physically and mentally ready for the Games, of course, but as a human, I'm worried like any other competitor."

Germany's Silke Spiegelburg triumphed in the pole vault event, with the result of 4.82 meters.

A two-time Olympic champion, Isinbayeva is one of Russia’s main medal hopefuls at the Games, which kick off in London on July 27.

The 30-year-old is the current the women's pole vault outdoor (5.06) and indoor (5.01) world record holder.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.supersport.com/olympics/athl ... ight_again


Isinbayeva takes flight again
15 Jul 2012 07:02:49


Yelena Isinbayeva © Gallo Images
Russia's pole vault world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva is confident of soaring to new heights at the Olympics after suffering a series of setbacks in the last three seasons.

Isinbayeva heads to London boosted by gold in the 2012 World Indoor Championships and happy she has regained her fighting spirit after the 2009-2011 seasons were blighted by the rare but bitter taste of defeat.

Reunited with her childhood coach Yevgeny Trofimov – a man who she affectionately calls her second father – Isinbayeva believes she has recovered the form that made her unbeatable up to 2008.

"I can say that I've regained that joyful feeling being in flight over the bar," the double Olympic champion said.

"Now I just love everything that I'm doing and I really appreciate every minute which I spend in training and competition."

Accustomed to being the unchallenged queen of her event, Isinbayeva failed to record a height in a tear-stained 2009 World Championships in Berlin, came fourth in the 2010 world indoors and just sixth in the 2011 Worlds in Daegu, South Korea.

But Isinbayeva said that she was not afraid of the competition at the Olympics, saying if she comes into the Games in top form nobody can stop her.

"If I manage to keep my form and avoid injuries there'll be no rival for me in London except myself," she said.

The 30-year-old Volgograd-born pole vaulter added that the recent winter athletics season confirmed that she and coach Trofimov have chosen the right way to prepare for the Olympics.

"I managed to earn a perfect record this winter winning all five tournaments where I competed and set a new indoor world record. It's a very good result for the winter season," she said.

"I believe it's a clear sign that together with my coach we've chosen the right direction and I'm really happy that our joint work paid off."

Isinbayeva started her sporting career as gymnast in Volgograd but she had to change sports at the age of 15 because she was considered too tall to be competitive in gymnastics.

Isinbayeva, who holds both the world outdoor record of 5.06m and indoor mark of 5.01m, also said that she almost restored her technique of the 2005-06 period which she and her coach considered to be the best in her career.

"I'm really close to it. Now my technique is completely different and much closer to perfection than what I was showing in those five years," she said.

"Now I'm not just jumping over the bar but flying over it again. And I hope I'll be able to fly really high."

Isinbayeva, who parted her ways with her first coach Trofimov in 2005 to join Vitaly Petrov, the coach of legendary Sergei Bubka, said that the move was a mistake as it ended a complete fiasco at consecutive major events.

She added that the decision to reunite with Trofimov in 2011 was the key to her comeback.

"I made a mistake when I parted with Yevgeny. But luckily I corrected that mistake and it was the best ever decision in my life as he is my coach, my friend and maybe even my second father."

"I believe now I can see my previous achievements in proper perspective and every new victory makes me much more happy than it was in the previous years."

Isinbayeva, who has set 28 world records during her career so far, added that she was still dreaming of beating Bubka's achievement of 35 world records before her retirement.

"It was my main target since the very beginning of my career to make it 36 records. It's still in my mind and I believe I can achieve it."

Meanwhile, she confirmed her firm intention to retire after the 2013 athletics world championships in Moscow.

"I will quit after the Moscow worlds. It's the right time to quit when you're 31," she said.

"Besides, I decided to retire at my peak. For the moment every competition is a great occasion for me but it becomes more and more hard to train day-in, day-out."

[fishman4god]

I beleive she is in .................potentially for a shock! Jen will give her a run for her money for sure and imho is a much tougher competitor. Time will tell....let the games begin!

[BruceFlorman]

Translated from http://www.sovsport.ru/gazeta/article-item/543050

Elena Isinbaeva’s coach Evgeny Trofimov: It needs to all come together

He belongs to a rare breed of coaches. A philosopher, experimenter, and expert on one of the most spectacular and enigmatic sports, the pole vault. Maybe this is why fate introduced him to Elena Isinbayeva, who later became a two-time Olympic champion. Once with him and once without. Now they are back together and trying to get on top for a third time. On Saturday Isinbayeva begins her appearance at the London Olympiad.

“MASCULINE” TECHNIQUE IMPOSED ON LENA

– Evgeny Vasilevich, are you not confused by the erratic results of your student?
– No. I’m already at an age where it’s difficult to confuse me.

– Nevertheless, what’s going on with Lena? Is it nerves; problems with “physics”; flaws in her technique; what?
– Here's the thing. For eight years she worked and improved in one school. Then, after moving abroad, she got into another, where they treat the vault differently. Earlier her jumps were easy, free, on automatic. When she became a "remake", her problems began. Now, in stressful situations, she gets the "centipede syndrome": with which legs do I step? Eight years of one school, five years of another. The soul of contradiction gnaws at her. In training she’s doing everything right, but it shows during competition.
Abroad, they imposed a "masculine" jumping technique with counter-movement through her left arm, which couldn’t be done because her whole vault was based on the rhythm of her swing. Her crazy swing was her foundation! Now she stopped swinging, and therefore lost the "lightness" of her vault. When it’s possible to overcome this, everything turns out. In Volgograd, she jumped 5.10 in training for me. But in Monaco nothing worked out. In warm-ups Lena jumped 4.70 and cleared easily. But when the competition started, she again began to thrust with her arm. Her shoulders stop and the whole jump is a letter "G". (NOTE: Here he's referring to the Cyrillic letter "G", which is "Г" -- i.e. an inverted "L" or a right angle.)
Thus my task now is this: for three or four workouts to "clean up" her left arm and return it to the former version. There’s no need to touch her "Physics" further: she runs well and has added to her bench press too. The bench press correlates with swing speed...

– And is it a secret how much she presses?
– 78 kg.

– Maybe she’s ready for 5.10 - 5.15?
– She's ready, she’s jumped that. On her second jump in Volgograd she was at 5 meters. Then in the rain she jumped 4.90. And moreover, before the eyes of her manager, who came to see her jumping.

– This was a while ago?
– Five weeks ago. Then we had some little problems in the course of preparing, and we stopped jumping, which has introduced a small glitch related to our primary start.

FIVE METERS WILL SUFFICE FOR VICTORY

– Had she changed a lot as a person when she returned to you?
– She’s the same Lena, only she’s not 22 anymore, but 30 already. And her dedication, which she had earlier, has returned. She reconsidered many things, and realized that there are friends, there are traveling companions, and there are false friends.
I’m pleased that she hasn’t lost the ability to mobilize at the right moment. I sometimes test her, saying: “You have one attempt left! Make it here!” Lena collects herself, a madness comes over her, and her result improves, by 50-60 cm with the shot for example.

– She puts the shot?
– No, I used it as a test. For example, pushing it forward with both hands…

– Has age strongly affected her?
– How should I put it… We can’t handle as much volume as before. We can’t compete as often. Therefore I organized our training in order to reach peak form in London.

– Why did the head coach of Russian athletics, Maslakov, say that after the Olympic games she’d be finished with vaulting?
– No, he meant that she’ll fulfill her Olympic games, and afterward the world championships, which will be in Moscow in 2013. And then, probably, she’ll have to really finish, because she has many plans for her life.

– What result will be needed in order to win in London?
– No less than 5 meters. But there’s the weather at any moment. Now the results are unpredictable. You see what's going on in London. Cold and rain constantly. Thus, here we’ll work not for the result, but for the prize. We don’t even need to think about world records.

– Are any of her competitors close to her results?
– They’re creeping up. There’s been a quantum leap. The Germans are already jumping differently. The Cuban, Silva, has appeared and can wedge her way into the fight. The American, the Brazilian, Murer, many have been added.

LENA IS FRIENDLY WITH MY WIFE

– Does Lena strongly feel her failures?
– Naturally. She’s not used to losing, it’s unpleasant. But she understands everything well. I showed her the training map and said, "Lena, here’s the root of your mistakes! Our task in the remaining 10 days before the Olympiad is to deal with this and this – and you'll be fine."

– She was convinced?
– I hope so. The main thing is that everything comes together. Form and psycho-energetics.

– Time doesn’t go backwards, nevertheless. What would she have achieved if she hadn’t left you earlier?
– Why talk about that now? Fate decreed that she left and came back. The first she regrets, the second… She’s very glad. She’s returned to her own home. Her parents, sister and coach. She’s very friendly with my wife, Tamara Fedorovna. When my wife comes to our training, Lena’s results even improve.

– And nevertheless you said that her ceiling is much higher and that she could be jumping 5.15–5.20 by now, if not for her departure. It’s a pity after all.
- Yes, a pity… At the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 she cleared 5.01 with a reserve of fifteen centimeters. Everyone gasped – it’s easy! And she jumped on the soft pole because of the cold weather.

– In your opinion, what makes Lena unique? She was a decent gymnast – and suddenly.
– Let go of the gymnastics, please. Because it’s possible to vault either with or without gymnastics. I had Chepeleva, the Olympic silver medalist in Australia. She came and said: “I want to vault like Lena.” And what happened? Not one of her motions was she able to transfer to the pole vault. The matter isn’t gymnastics, although Lena is a “Master of Sport” in this discipline. Her uniqueness is anthropometric, psycho-energetics, muscular memory, and a lot more. There’s a special monogram, where the chart shows all of a person’s important indicators. So here she is at a very high level in all of these areas. No links are missing. Here’s what’s important! This is her uniqueness.

PERSONAL DETAILS

Evgeny Vasilievich TROFIMOV

Born in 1944 in the town of Kuznetsk (Penza oblast). Involved in coaching since 1966. In 1997 he began working with Elena Isinbayeva, who transferred to athletics from gymnastics. In 2005, the sportswoman left him to work Vitaly Petrov, but returned to work with Trofimov in 2011.

By the decree of the President of Russia in 2006, he was awarded the order “For Merit Before the Fatherland” of the 2nd degree. “Meritorious Coach of Russia”.

[fishman4god]

Well we will see if it all comes together. She was crazy high over in the quals...................it could happen, but will she buckle under pressure and her conflict as it was called. Gotta love the OLYMPICS.....the drama is insane!