Women's Pole Vault Provides Stirring Drama at Olympics

 

By Parke Brewer¹
 
The women's pole vault² provided one of the stirring dramas of the 2004 Olympic track and field competition.

Until the mid³ 1990s, women's pole vault was not taken very seriously, mainly because the heights being cleared were so far behind the men. But between 1995 and 1999, Australian Emma George broke the women's world record 12 times.

The event was finally added to the Olympics in 2000 in Sydney, but much to the dismay of the partisan⁴ crowd, George failed to qualify for the final. The gold medal was won by American Stacy Dragila with a vault of four meters 60 centimeters, three centimeters less than her world record at the time.

Since then, the women's world mark has gone steadily⁵ up. And in Athens, it was the first athletics⁶ world record to be broken at an Olympics since American runner Michael Johnson broke the mark in the men's 200-meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

With Dragila failing to qualify for the finals this time, the competition was heated between two Russian rivals, Yelena Isinbayeva and Svetlana Feofanova. It is well known that they do not get along with one another. Dragila's Olympic mark was shattered by 31 centimeters, as Isinbayeva cleared four meters 91 centimeters.

She actually clinched⁷ the gold medal with a leap of 4.80m, as Feofanova was unable to go over the bar at that height.

Ms. Isinbayeva explained what happened after that.

"When I won the gold medal, I went to my coach, and he congratulated me," Ms. Isinbayeva added. "He said, 'let's jump the world record.' I said, 'Yeah, of course, why not?' And the world record was easy for me because I was, I don't know, I was so happy that my energy was there [to do it]."

It came nearly three-and-a-half hours after the competition started, and it was the fourth time this year Yelena Isinbayeva had broken the world record in the women's pole vault. Feofanova, the 2003 world champion, had bettered Isinbayeva's mark on July 4, becoming first woman to clear 16 feet, or 4.88 meters. But Isinbayeva took it back on July 25, with a leap of 4.89 meters, then bettered it again by one centimeter five days later (4.90).

Isinbayeva knows she could have vaulted⁸ even higher than 4.91 meters here at the Olympics, but said she is not in any rush, because she knows many athletics meets offer big bonus money for breaking world records.

"I would like to be like [former pole vault star] Sergei Bubka," she added. "I would like to do just a centimeter by one centimeter, because every centimeter is big money. I am not a rich girl. I would like to be rich."

Russian Yelena Isinbayeva says she once vaulted five meters in training this year, so she knows she has the potential to continue to break world records.

Parke Brewer, VOA Sports, in Athens.
注释：
women's pole vault 女子撑杆跳
stirring 激动人心的
dismay 使沮丧
steadily 稳定地
athletics 运动
rival 竞争对手
shatter 打破（记录）
clinch 在文中指稳拿金牌
bonus 奖金
potential 潜能

 

 

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

3 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

4 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

7 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

8 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。