Yelena Isinbayeva

Yelena Isinbayeva, born on 3 June 1982 in Volgograd, Russia, is widely considered the greatest female pole vaulter of all time. A two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Champion, she dominated her event for over a decade and set a total of 28 world records throughout her career.

Isinbayeva became the first woman to clear the five-metre barrier in 2005 and holds the outdoor world record of 5.06 m, set in Zurich in August 2009. She won Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games, and claimed World Championship titles in 2005, 2007, and 2013. A nine-time major champion across Olympic, World, and European competitions both indoors and outdoors, she also won the IAAF Golden League jackpot in 2007 and 2009. She was named IAAF Female Athlete of the Year three times and received the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award twice.

Isinbayeva was banned from the 2016 Rio Olympics due to Russia's state-sponsored doping programme. She retired from athletics in August 2016 after being elected to an eight-year term on the IOC Athletes' Commission. She remains one of only a handful of athletes to have won World Championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels.