Averbukh has the makings of a super athlete

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/750040.html

The makings of a super athlete

By Eitan Bekerman

A pole vaulter is a super athlete, requiring the speed of a sprinter, the leg strength of a long jumper, the arm strength of a shot putter or javelin thrower, and very high levels of concentration, technique, coordination, flexibility and acrobatic skills. Alex Averbukh says, therefore, that the sport closest to pole vaulting is gymnastics.

Already as a young man in Irkutsk, Siberia, Averbukh was spotted as a huge sports talent. He tried his hand at boxing and bobsledding, but soon moved on to the decathlon, representing the former Soviet Union at various junior levels. His personal best for the 100 meters is 0.05 seconds faster than the time set by Israeli sprinter Tal Mor at the just-completed championships in Gotenborg - but acrobatics are his forte.

When Averbukh vaults, he parts with the pole at a height of 4.82 meters above the ground (the pole measures 5.20 meters, it is planted in a 20-centimeter-deep hole, and Averbukh holds it some 18 centimeters from its end); and if he plants it with the right amount of force and at the right angle, he is supposed to add another meter or so in the air without the support of his legs - and with the strength of his Popeye-like arms only. If you are not a great acrobat, forget about it.

And experience - one needs a great deal of experience to take gold at the European Championship with just two vaults. Had Averbukh failed on his second attempt, with the bar at 5.70 meters, and remained with a best of just 5.50, he would have been seen as somewhat impudent and arrogant. None of the other competitors, including Olympic champion Tim Lobinger, chose such a daring vaulting path. Averbukh and his relatively new coach, Yekaterina Fogel, who coached him as a young man in Irkutsk, selected the most prudent plan under very difficult weather conditions - one vault, another vault, and gold.

Averbukh and Fogel have been working together for two years. Back in February, he told Haaretz that "it took us some time to get used to each other again, but Yekaterina is part mother, part father and part friend, and I will achieve good results with her."

When it comes to the mental aspect of the discipline, Fogel's task is to prepare Averbukh for pressure situations. He, too, knows that this was his main problem at the Athens Olympics, where he did not fare well.

At 31, Averbukh is still at an appropriate age for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Already now, his record is fantastic in Israeli terms: He was two-time European champion, indoor European champion, and a silver and bronze medalist at the World Championships. And on the way to such success, with all the training and competitions, he had to overcome his toughest hurdle of all - learning Hebrew.

He did not want to be like his Olympic teammate Anna Smashnova, the tennis player who has represented Israel in the Fed Cup more than any other in history, but is still seen by all here as a Russian. Little by little, with unending patience, he is learning the language, both for himself and, in no small measure, for us, too - so that we can say: We, Israel, have a super athlete.

[achtungpv]

Wow. That's either the worst literal translation into english ever or Israel has really low standards for its journalism degrees.