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Posted: **Fri Jan 28, 2005 1:23 am**

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=29136

Grigorieva bounces back in pole vault
17:34 AEDT Thu Jan 27 2005

Athletics pin-up girl Tatiana Grigorieva could be back mixing it with the best in the world this year after clearing a world championships qualifying height in the pole vault.

The 2000 Olympic silver medallist vaulted 4.30m at a low-key competition on the Gold Coast, a height that counts as a world championships B qualifier.

But Grigorieva must add another 15 centimetres to the height to achieve an A qualifier and guarantee herself a berth at the world titles in Helsinki, Finland in August.

The good news for the former Russian and part-time model is she achieved the height off a limited 12-step run up.

"Her best ever off that distance is 4.35 so she's only a little way off it," Grigorieva's manager Ric Carter said.

"It's the highest she's jumped in a year.

"It shows that she's mentally and physically getting back to her best."

Grigorieva jumped 4.55m to claim the Olympic silver medal in Sydney but failed to qualify for last year's Olympics or the 2003 world championships.

If Grigorieva fails to clear 4.45m by July 25, and another Australian manages to do so, she will be overlooked for the world championship team.

But if no Australian clears 4.45m, Australian selectors could choose to send Grigorieva to Finland given she has recorded a B qualifier.

The 29-year-old will be back in action at the A-series in Canberra on Saturday week.

Posted: **Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:44 am**

It would be great to see Tatiana back in the pole vault lights again!

Posted: **Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:26 am**

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,86 ... 09,00.html

Grigorieva breaks her finger
February 2, 2005

A BROKEN finger could jeopardise Tatiana Grigorieva's hopes of making a comeback to international pole vault competition.

A week after clearing a world championship qualifying height, the 2000 Olympic silver medallist put herself out of action in her pet event when she accidentally jammed the little finger on her right hand in a door.

The injury has forced Grigorieva to pull out of this weekend's Canberra A-series meet and will likely keep her sidelined for at least three weeks.

"It's an off-field accident that's just crunched her finger," Grigorieva's manager Ric Carter said today.

"She's got it in a splint and she'll go and see the doctor by the end of the week and see how it's travelling and how the pain is going.

"It's really a matter of wait and see."

The broken finger is a huge blow to Grigorieva, who last week vaulted 4.30m to record a world championships B qualifier off a reduced 12-step run up.

She must add another 15 centimetres to the height to achieve an A qualifier and guarantee herself a berth at the world titles in Helsinki in August.

If Grigorieva fails to clear 4.45m by July 25, and another Australian manages to do so, she will be overlooked for the world championship team.

But if no Australian clears 4.45m, Australian selectors could choose to send Grigorieva to Finland given she has recorded a B qualifier.

The 29-year-old had considered testing her skills in the long jump in Canberra on Saturday but landing in the sandpit with a broken finger had proved too painful.

"As you can imagine, a broken finger, when you swing it around in the air, it's still pretty painful," Carter said.

"She does do a bit of it in training but certainly (will) not (compete) Canberra, probably not Melbourne, very possibly Adelaide but hopefully the finger might be good enough by then.

"Her feeling is that she's in good physical shape and good mental shape.

"She wants to keep the competition juices flowing but unless she can jump with comfort and a reasonable distance, forget it."

If Grigorieva does compete in the long jump at an upcoming A-series event it won't be the first time she has dabbled in other event.

She was a national level 400m hurdler in Russia before she came to Australia in 1997, where she took up pole vaulting.

Carter said Grigorieva's performances had improved dramatically since she made public her split with husband Viktor Chistiakov.

"She has spent time with her mum and dad and she came back from Europe the most positive she has been in 18 months," he said.

Posted: **Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:11 pm**

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common ... 63,00.html

Tatiana on a high
By SCOTT GULLAN in Helsinki
07aug05

THE breakdown of her marriage plunged Tatiana Grigorieva into an emotional hell that ends today when the former glamour girl of Australian athletics returns to the international stage.

When Grigorieva steps out for the qualifying of the women's pole vault, it will be with a mended heart and a renewed love for the sport she claims helped her through the split with husband and fellow pole vaulter Viktor Chistiakov.
"It feels really good to be back," she said. "It has been a big test for me, (to see) how much I can handle and how well I can deal with the difficult situations.

"In a way, it was a good time for me because I had to re-value a lot of things in my life. I now understand what is really important to me and in my life."

For the past two years Grigorieva has re-built her life on the Gold Coast after fleeing Adelaide when her marriage to Chistiakov ended and he returned to Russia.

It was during this time the Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medallist realised the passion for her sport still burned strongly.

"Somehow sport was always on my mind," she said. "I knew in my guts that it was going to be something that was going to help me to get out of the bad time, the difficult time.

"I knew that whatever happens I can't give up sport, because it is just one of the things that keeps me motivated in my life, even when the days are bad or the competitions are bad.

"It is something that I have been doing for a long time and I know I am good at it, so I never ever thought of it as being too hard, or thinking I'm going to quit."

With her Sydney success came instant fame and a modelling career.

Her popularity resulted in the release of a lingerie range in 2001; in 2002, she was named one of the 10 sexiest female athletes in the world by sports television network ESPN.

The catwalk and centrefolds have been swapped for a life spent working with under-privileged children and studying non-traditional medicine, specialising in acupuncture.

"When I made my move to the Gold Coast I was living a pretty quiet life," Grigorieva said. "I was concentrating on my studies and working for a charity and training by myself.

"I kept gradually getting better. My heart started to calm down a little bit, my health started to clear up and I was able to train better.

"It is all connected -- your physical conditions with your emotional state.

"Emotionally, I am back to normal now, very strong, and I think the physical conditions have started to follow my emotional state."

"Really, the last two years have made me understand how much sport means to me, I guess.

"It is not something that generates my income. It is a lifestyle and something that I really love doing and something that helps me to grow as an individual as well.

"It has just got a bigger meaning for me now."

After two years ruined by injury -- she no-heighted at the Athens Olympic trials last year -- Grigorieva, 29, initially missed selection for the world championships when a finger injury cut short her domestic season.

She was only added to the team for Helsinki two weeks ago after she cleared 4.47m -- her best vault for almost four years -- at the London grand prix.

Pole vault changed significantly in her absence, with Russia's Yelena Isinabayeva taking it to a new level in Crystal Palace last month when she became the first woman to clear 5m.

"She has just opened a new page for women's pole vault and, I think, well done for her, good on her," Grigorieva said. "I think she made everyone understand that women's pole vault is a big event and probably now one of the biggest in track and field and one of the most popular.

She isn't expecting big things in Helsinki, having her sights firmly set on defending her Commonwealth Games crown in Melbourne next year.

"These world championships have come as a bonus," she said. "It is going to be a test for me and we will see how well I can handle it after two years of not competing in a major international competition.

"But I am now more confident about the competitions and the heights that I can clear and heights that I want to clear.

"Really, everything is fine, I'm happy with my life now and I'm just really enjoying it."

Posted: **Sun Aug 07, 2005 11:44 pm**

dont worry tatiana... i will marry you at this instant!!!

Posted: **Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:22 pm**

http://www.nmd.com.au/news2/news_detail.cfm?ID=4313

Tatiana Leads Charge Into V8 Supercar Golf Day
Olympic pole vault medallist Tatiana Grigorieva returned home to the Gold Coast yesterday after a successful tour of Europe, China and Japan where she beat World Record Holder Yelena Isinbayeva in the Osaka Athletics Grand Prix.

On her return, she announced her foundation, Gift for Dreams would be conducting the inaugural V8 Supercar Championship Series Charity Golf Day in association with Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup, an official supporter of the foundation.

The Golf Day on Friday October 14 will be held at Hope Island Resort Golf Club and is a Lexmark Indy 300 Official Off Track Event.

The event will raise funds for Motorsport Scholarships at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE as well as programs at the Gold Coast Academy of Sport.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Following the success of the current Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup Scholarship program in association with the Gift for Dreams Foundation, a new V8 Supercars scholarship will be developed to give young Australians the opportunity to fulfil a dream of a profession in MotorsportÃ¢â‚¬Â

Posted: **Fri Sep 23, 2005 5:25 am**

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/content/200509/s1467276.htm

Grigorieva to train for Games overseas
Defending Commonwealth Games pole vault champion Tatiana Grigorieva has said she will take one more trip overseas to hone her technique before returning to Australia to prepare for next year's Games in Melbourne.

The Olympic silver medallist starred at Grand Prix meets in China and Japan earlier this month, winning in Yokahama and qualifying for the Commonwealth Games in Shanghai with a vault of 4.3 metres.

"[My] next trip to Europe is not as much about the competition as about the training because I'm planning to do most of the competition, or competition preparation, before the Commonwealth [Games] in Australia," she said.

"This trip is going to be about the training and trying to make my technique a bit more consistent."

Posted: **Tue Oct 18, 2005 4:32 pm**

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