Sergey Bubka
Sergey Bubka in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Native name | Сергі́й Наза́рович Бу́бка | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Ukrainian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Voroshilovgrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | 4 December 1963||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | PhD in Pedagogy, Physical culture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Ukrainian Academy of Science, Kiev State Institute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 1981–2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 80 kg (180 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website |
www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country |
Soviet Union (1981–1991) Ukraine (1991–2001) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Pole vault | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turned pro | 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Vitaly Petrov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired | 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updated on 8 September 2012. |
Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka (Ukrainian: Сергі́й Наза́рович Бу́бка; Russian: Серге́й Наза́рович Бу́бка, Sergey Nazarovich Bubka; born 4 December 1963) is a former Ukrainian pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, was twice named Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News,[1] and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame.[2]
Bubka has been involved with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since 2001 and has served as a Vice President since 2007. During this time, he remained on the Athletes’ Commission (2001–2011) and is also a Council Member for ASOIF, the Association for Summer Olympic International Federations. Bubka commented: “I have been working at the IAAF for a long time and my work is not limited to one area. The good of athletics is something deep in my heart.”
Sergey Bubka first got involved with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1996 when he was elected as a Member of the Athletes’ Commission, providing input into the governance of sport from the perspective of an active athlete. Almost 20 years later he is still involved as an Honorary Member. He became an IOC Member in 1999 and has been involved in a wide range of Commissions, including Chairman of the Evaluation and then the Coordination Commissions for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010.
As President of the National Olympic Committee in Ukraine since 2005, he has transformed the organisation into one of the most progressive in the world. It has staff based in all of the nation’s 27 regions with each taking responsibility for delivering an array of programmes designed to bring young people into sport, realise the potential of the most talented athletes and promote the Olympic Movement and its values.
Bubka won six consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal and broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times[3] (17 outdoor and 18 indoor records). He was the first pole vaulter to clear 6.0 metres and 6.10 metres.[4][5]
He held the world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine[6] for almost 21 years until France's Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 metres on 15 February 2014 at the same meet in the same arena.[7]
Biography
Born in Voroshilovgrad (now Luhans'k), Bubka was a track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but became a world-class champion only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, virtually unknown internationally, he won the world championship in Helsinki, Finland, and the following year set his first world record, clearing 5 m 75 cm (19 ft 2 in). Until the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. The Soviet sports system rewarded athletes for setting new world records, and he became noted for establishing new records by slim amounts, sometimes as little as a centimeter higher. This allowed him to collect frequent bonus payments and made Bubka an attraction at track-and-field meets.
He has a son who is a professional tennis player, whose name is also Sergei.
Pole vault career
Sergey Bubka started competing on the international athletics scene in 1981 when he participated in the European Junior Championship finishing seventh. But the 1983 World Championship held in Helsinki was his actual entry point to the world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 metres (18 feet 8 inches). The years that followed witnessed the unparalleled dominance of Bubka, with him setting new records and standards in pole vaulting.
He set his first world record of 5.85m on 26 May 1984 which he improved to 5.88m a week later, and then to 5.90m a month later. He cleared 6.00 metres (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris.[5] This height had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the then world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 13⁄4 inches) in 1994.
He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 metres, in San Sebastián, Spain in 1991. Until January 2014, no other athlete had cleared 6.07, indoors or outdoors. He set the currently listed world record of 6.14 metres in 1994 after some commentators had already predicted the decline of the great sportsman. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the period from 1984 to 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history combined (as of 20 April 2009 there have been 42 clearances of 6.00 metres by other athletes).[8]
Bubka officially retired from pole vault in 2001 during a ceremony at his Pole Vault Stars meeting in Donetsk.[9]
Olympics curse
Despite his dominance in pole vault, Bubka had a relatively poor record in the Olympic Games. The first Olympics after Bubka's introduction to the international athletics was held in 1984 and was boycotted by the USSR along with the majority of other Eastern Bloc countries. Two months before the Games he vaulted 12 cm higher than the eventual Olympic gold medal winner Pierre Quinon. In 1988 Bubka competed in the Seoul Olympics and won his only Olympic gold medal clearing 5.90 m. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first three attempts (5.70, 5.70, 5.75 m) and was out of the Barcelona Olympics. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without any attempts. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics he was eliminated from the final after three unsuccessful attempts at 5.70 m.[10]
IAAF World championships
Bubka won the pole vault event in six consecutive IAAF World Championships in Athletics in the period from 1983 to 1997:
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Winning height (m) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | World Championships | Helsinki | 1st | 5.70 |
1987 | World Championships | Rome | 1st | 5.85 |
1991 | World Championships | Tokyo | 1st | 5.95 |
1993 | World Championships | Stuttgart | 1st | 6.00 |
1995 | World Championships | Gothenburg | 1st | 5.92 |
1997 | World Championships | Athens | 1st | 6.01 |
World record progression by Bubka
Bubka broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times during his career.[3] He broke the outdoor world record 17 times and the indoor world record 18 times. Bubka lost his outdoor world record only once in his illustrious career. After Thierry Vigneron, of France, broke his record on 31 August 1984 at the Golden Gala international track meet in Rome, Bubka subsequently reclaimed the record on his next run, just minutes later.[11]
The fact that most of the time the record he improved was his own demonstrates his absolute dominance in the event. Exactly how high he could have jumped at his best is unknown: the majority of his world record attempts were made at 1 cm higher than the existing record, and once achieved, he would not attempt another record jump until the next opportunity to compete, even after a substantial clearance showing he could have achieved a higher height.[12]
Height (m) | Date | Place |
---|---|---|
6.14 | 31 July 1994 | Sestriere |
6.13 | 19 September 1992 | Tokyo |
6.12 | 30 August 1992 | Padova |
6.11 | 13 June 1992 | Dijon |
6.10 | 5 August 1991 | Malmö |
6.09 | 8 July 1991 | Formia |
6.08 | 9 June 1991 | Moscow |
6.07 | 6 May 1991 | Shizuoka |
6.06 | 10 July 1988 | Nice |
6.05 | 9 June 1988 | Bratislava |
6.03 | 23 June 1987 | Prague |
6.01 | 8 June 1986 | Moscow |
6.00 | 13 June 1985 | Paris |
5.94 | 31 August 1984 | Rome |
5.90 | 13 July 1984 | London |
5.88 | 2 June 1984 | Paris |
5.85 | 26 May 1984 | Bratislava |
Height (m) | Date | Place |
---|---|---|
6.15 | 21 February 1993 | Donetsk |
6.14 | 13 February 1993 | Lievin |
6.13 | 22 February 1992 | Berlin |
6.12 | 23 February 1991 | Grenoble |
6.11 | 19 March 1991 | Donetsk |
6.10 | 15 March 1991 | San Sebastián |
6.08 | 9 February 1991 | Volgograd |
6.05 | 17 March 1990 | Donetsk |
6.03 | 11 February 1989 | Osaka |
5.97 | 17 March 1987 | Torino |
5.96 | 15 January 1987 | Osaka |
5.95 | 28 February 1986 | New York |
5.94 | 21 February 1986 | Inglewood |
5.92 | 8 February 1986 | Moscow |
5.87 | 15 January 1986 | Osaka |
5.83 | 10 February 1984 | Inglewood |
5.82 | 1 February 1984 | Milano |
5.81 | 15 January 1984 | Vilnius |
Technique
Bubka possessed great strength, speed and gymnastic abilities.[3] His average speed during pole vaulting reportedly approached 35.7 km/h (9.9 m/s, 22.2 mph). He gripped the pole higher than most vaulters to get extra leverage, though Bubka himself played down the effect of grip alone.[13] Bubka's strength meant that he could use a pole that was relatively heavy for his weight, thereby generating more recoil force. The statue erected in his honour in Donetsk shows an incorrect (and impossible) vaulting grip on the pole.
His development and mastery of the Petrov/Bubka technical model is also considered a key to his success. (A technical model is a sequence of positions and pressures which describe the method and style form of pole vaulting.) The Petrov/Bubka model is considered superior to many others today, because it allows the vaulter to continuously put energy into the pole while rising towards the bar. Most conventional models focus on creating maximum bend in the pole before leaving the ground, by planting the pole heavily on the landing pad. The Petrov/Bubka model follows the technique used by Kjell Isaksson,[14][15] which concentrates on driving the pole up, rather than bending it while planting it on the landing pad, combined with high running speed. While the traditional models depended on the recoil by bending the pole, the Petrov/Bubka model may exploit the recoil of the pole and exert more energy on the pole during the swinging action.
Awards and positions held
- Bubka won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports in 1991
- Bubka was awarded the best sportsman of the Soviet Union for three years in a row from 1984 to 1986
- Bubka was voted Sportsman of the Year for 1997 by the influential newspaper L'Équipe
- Bubka was honored as the best pole vaulter of the last half century by Track & Field News
- Bubka was designated an IAAF council member in 2001. In 2011, he was elected a Vice-President of the organization for a four-year term.[16]
- He is currently serving as the president of National Olympic Committee of Ukraine and is an IOC member[17]
- Bubka was designated UNESCO Champion for Sport in 2003[18]
- In 2005 he received the Panathlon International Flambeau d'Or for his contribution to the development and promotion of sport.[19]
- From 2002 to 2006, he was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and its Committee on youth policy, physical culture, sport and tourism[20][21]
- Bubka won the Marca Leyenda in 2005
- Completed his term in IOC athletes commission in August 2008[22]
Today Bubka is a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.[23]
IAAF
Bubka has been involved with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since 2001 and has served as a Vice President since 2007. During this time, he remained on the Athletes’ Commission (2001–2011) and is also a Council Member for ASOIF, the Association for Summer Olympic International Federations. Bubka commented: “I have been working at the IAAF for a long time and my work is not limited to one area. The good of athletics is something deep in my heart.” Bubka has been IAAF Council Member (2001-), IAAF Senior Vice-President (2007–2011), Vice-President (2011-), IAAF Development Commission Deputy Chairman (2007–2011), then Chairman (2011-), IAAF Athletes Commission member (2001–2011) and IAAF Competition Commission member (2003-). He was also a Coordination Commission Chairman of IAAF World Championships in Daegu 2011 and Moscow 2013.
National Olympic Committee
As President of the National Olympic Committee in Ukraine since 2005, he has transformed the organisation into one of the most progressive in the world. It has staff based in all of the nation’s 27 regions with each taking responsibility for delivering an array of programmes designed to bring youngsters into sport, realise the potential of the most able and promote the Olympic Movement and its values. A National Olympic Day, the Olympic Stork which provides Olympic-themed education to more than 250,000 school classes across the country, televised annual awards and an Olympic Academy have all been established under Bubka’s reign. “NOCs must do more than select and send teams to Olympic Games,” says Bubka. “They are at the forefront of efforts to educate young people and help them become involved in sport and adopt a healthy lifestyle. To do that we need to work together globally because if we don’t we risk losing the younger generation.”
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Sergey Bubka first got involved with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1996 when he was elected as a Member of the Athletes’ Commission, providing input into the governance of sport from the perspective of an active athlete. Almost 20 years later he is still involved as an Honorary Member. “I knew that I wanted to be involved in running sport and, in particular to be involved in the Olympic Movement,” he said. He became an IOC Member in 1999 and has been involved in a wide range of Commissions, including Chairman of the Evaluation and then the Coordination Commissions for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. On 28 May 2013 Sergey Bubka announced that he would run for President of the International Olympic Committee. At the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires he lost the vote to Thomas Bach.[24]
Quotes
- "I love the pole vault because it is a professor's sport. One must not only run and jump, but one must think. Which pole to use, which height to jump, which strategy to use. I love it because the results are immediate and the strongest is the winner. Everyone knows it. In everyday life that is difficult to prove."[25] – Sergey Bubka
- "Here is a man who has personally altered his art form, changed the way competitors prepare for it and perform it, even the way spectators perceive it." – Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated about Bubka
- "My jump was imperfect, my run-in was too short and my hands were too far back at takeoff. When I manage to iron out these faults, I am sure I can improve." – In an interview after he was the first person to break 20 feet (6.10 m).
Bibliography
Sergey Bubka (1987). An Attempt is Reserved (in Russian). Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya.
See also
- 6 metres club
References
- ↑ "Track and Field Athlete of the Year". Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ IAAF Hall Of Fame "IAAF Athletics". Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Bubka says farewell". BBC News. 4 February 2001. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
- ↑ "Top Lists: Pole Vault". IAAF.org. Retrieved 29 June 2009. (Indoor)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Top Lists: Pole Vault". IAAF.org. Retrieved 29 June 2009. (Outdoor)
- ↑ "RENAUD LAVILLENIE SETS POLE VAULT WORLD RECORD OF 6.16M IN DONETSK – UPDATED". IAAF. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ↑ "RENAUD LAVILLENIE SETS POLE VAULT WORLD RECORD OF 6.16M IN DONETSK – UPDATED". IAAF. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
- ↑ "The Legendary Sergey Bubka". Inside Athletics (April, 2009 edition). www.insideathletics.com.au. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
- ↑ Pole vault legend Sergei Bubka retires. The Independent (4 February 2001). Retrieved on 12 February 2011.
- ↑ "Sydney 2000 results". IAAF.org. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
- ↑ Bubka finishes 1st in world-record vault battle Associated Press (1 September 1984). Retrieved on 21 May 2012.
- ↑ "Bubka vaulting sequence". Youtube.com. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ "On the Road to Atlanta". The Ukrainian Weekly. 2 June 1996. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
- ↑ Video from the world record at 5.59m set at El Paso, 23 May 1972 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K-HZaXRpSA or http://vimeo.com/29876836 both retrieved on 14 April 2013
- ↑ Over and over again. Sports Illustrated report of the World record at 5.54m set in Los Angeles in April 1972 with interview http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086018/ and discussion of Isaksson's technique at http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17391#p124729 both retrieved on 14 April 2013
- ↑ "iaaf.org – International Association of Athletics Federations". Daegu2011.iaaf.org. 24 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ↑ "IOC > Members > Sergey Bubka". Official Website of the Olympic Movement. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
- ↑ "Ukrainian athlete Serhiy Bubka designated UNESCO Champion for Sport". Unesco.org. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
- ↑ "Sergiy Bubka receives "Golden Torch 2005" international prize".
- ↑ Serhiy Bubka, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
- ↑ Ukrainian pole vault star running in domestic parliamentary elections, Kyiv Post (30 January 2002)
- ↑ "Fredericks succeeds Bubka as chairman of IOC's Athletes Commission".
- ↑ "Peace and Sport". Peace-sport.org. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ "Sergei Bubka: Pole vault great wants to be IOC president". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-05-28. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
- ↑ Sergey Bubka to Gary Smith in Sports Illustrated, 14 September 1988, referenced in "Current Biography Excerpts: Track and Field". HW Wilson. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sergei Bubka. |
- Sergey Bubka's Official Site
- IAAF profile for Sergey Bubka
- Bubka re-elected President of National Olympic Committee of Ukraine
- Sergey Bubka, leyenda viviente del atletismo mundial, de visita en Colombia
- Serguei Bubka en Cali
- Interview with Sergey Bubka on BBC World News
- Bubka: Olympics can save a generation
- Pole vault legend Sergei Bubka on youth, cheats and his IOC presidential bid
- In IOC, New Obstacles for an Expert at Clearing Them
- Magazine article tracing Bubka's career
- A small video with the highlights of Bubka's career
- http://www.neovault.com/articles_bubka_speaks.asp
- Masters T&F Pole Vault All-Time Rankings
- ESPN bio
Preceded by Viktor Yanukovych |
President of Ukrainian NOC 2005 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Records | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Thierry Vigneron Thierry Vigneron |
Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder 26 May 1984 – 31 August 1984 31 August 1984 – 15 February 2014 |
Succeeded by Thierry Vigneron Renaud Lavillenie |
Preceded by Billy Olson Billy Olson Joe Dial Billy Olson Rodion Gataulin |
Men's Pole Vault Indoor World Record Holder 15 January 1984 – 4 March 1984 15 – 17 January 1986 8 February 1986 21 February 1986 – 22 January 1989 11 February 1989 – 15 February 2014 |
Succeeded by Thierry Vigneron Billy Olson Billy Olson Rodion Gataulin Renaud Lavillenie |
Awards and achievements | ||
Preceded by Carl Lewis Michael Johnson |
L'Équipe Champion of Champions 1985 1997 |
Succeeded by Diego Maradona Zinedine Zidane |
Preceded by Carl Lewis |
Gazzetta dello Sport Sportsman of the Year 1985 |
Succeeded by Diego Maradona |
Preceded by Ben Johnson Michael Johnson |
Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1988 1991 |
Succeeded by Roger Kingdom Kevin Young |
Preceded by Stefan Edberg |
United Press International Athlete of the Year 1991 |
Succeeded by Kevin Young |
Preceded by Alfonso Pons |
Prince of Asturias Award for Sports 1991 |
Succeeded by Miguel Indurain |
Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Thierry Vigneron Rodion Gataullin Okkert Brits |
Men's Pole Vault Best Year Performance 1984 – 1989 1991–1994 1996–1997 |
Succeeded by Rodion Gataullin Okkert Brits Jeff Hartwig |
Olympic Games | ||
Preceded by None |
Flagbearer for Ukraine Atlanta 1996 |
Succeeded by Yevhen Braslavets |
|
|
|
|
|
|