Bubka extends streak to six at world meet in Athens (08/17/97)

Bubka extends streak to six at world meet in Athens

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - To the roar of 60,000 spectators in Athens, Ukraine's Sergey Bubka vaulted over a bar set 6.01 meters (19 feet, 8.5 inches, or over two stories) above the ground at the International Amateur Athletic Federation's world championships on August 10, reaffirming his pre-eminence in a sport he has dominated since his arrival on the scene in the early 1980s. His jump extended the greatest winning streak in the championships' history.

By claiming the gold in his event, the 33-year-old Mr. Bubka continued his reign as the only athlete to take top honors in all six world competitions since their inception in 1983 (see sidebar on page 13). Germany's world champion in discus, Lars Riedel, 30, who won his event for the fourth time in succession that same day, is the only other competitor to come close.

Maksim Tarasov of Russia, who took the silver medal by clearing 5.96 meters in the pole vault, was in awe. "That 6.01 was one of his best jumps that I have ever seen," he said. "It's amazing to see him win six titles at the world championships."

As the year began, Mr. Bubka's prospects of retaining the mantle of world champion looked grim. In a warm-up to the 1996 Olympic competition in Atlanta, he had cleared the highest height achieved that year (6.02), but it cost him. He sustained a severe injury to his right Achilles' tendon and had to withdraw (Frenchman Jean Galfione eventually took gold with a vault of 5.92). In December came surgery.

In January, the Luhansk native still had not recovered sufficiently to compete in an international pole vaulting competition he organizes in Donetsk, where he grew up. In fact, the Agence France Presse quoted him on January 22 as complaining of chronic burning sensations in his legs and voicing feelings that it might be time to retire.

It was not until April that doctors allowed Mr. Bubka to resume training, even advising him against walking. One of the main draws for the "World's Best" meet held on June 1 in Toronto, he withdrew, and did not appear at an international competition until June 18, at a IAAF Grand Prix in Helsinki - the site of his first world championship triumph in 1983. Finishing fifth with a height of 5.60, Mr. Bubka was clearly just easing himself back into form.

When Ukraine's most successful athlete ever arrived in Athens, his rivals were waiting for him: 1992 Olympic Champion Tarasov; 1996 Olympic Champion Galfione. South African Okkert Brits was also in the field. Mr. Brits, Mr. Bubka and Russia's Igor Trandenkov are the only three members of the exclusive 6.00-meter club - they are the only men in history to have cleared this height. Not surprisingly, Mr. Bubka is the charter member, having established the mark in 1991, then surpassing it a mind-boggling 40 times.

On August 8, the qualifying round began, and Mr. Brits succumbed to pressure and the oppressive heat, and no-heighted. But another South African threat, Riaan Botha, along with Mr. Galfione, Mr. Tarasov, and favorite Tim Lobinger of Germany, all passed to the final round with a strategic 5.70.

In the final, the physical strain was beginning to show on Mr. Bubka. Although he projected confidence as he charged down the runway, he repeatedly screamed at himself as he stood preparing. Each time he rose off the mat after an attempt, successful or not, he was wincing in pain.

He made 5.70 on his second attempt. Mr. Tarasov, Mr. Lobinger and a young Californian, Dean Starkey, took it on the first try. Mr. Botha didn't make a height.

The bar went up to 5.80, and the top four made it over. Then the strategy began. At 5.91, Mr. Lobinger failed, the American and the Russian flew over the bar, and Mr. Bubka seemed to struggle. Mr. Tarasov easily cleared 5.96, but the Donbas-borm champion passed. Then Mr. Starkey missed his attempts.

With the bar raised to 6.01, Mr. Bubka sprinted up, rose on his flexing Austrian-made rubber pole, inverted his body in the Western roll technique once used by high jumpers, and cleared the bar with what seemed to be world-record amounts of space to spare. He'd done it.

After he landed, Mr. Bubka sat on the edge of the safety map, beaming into the cameras and holding up six fingers. The crowd was already going wild.

Mr. Starkey told The New York Times, "He never ceases to amaze me. No one will ever duplicate what he's done."

As he had at the previous world championships in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1995, he decided to take one last crack at a world record - the bar was set at 6.15, one centimeter above his mark established in Sestriere, Italy, a magically even 20 feet 2 inches.

Mr. Bubka started down the runway but pulled up short, provoking a storm of whistles from the crowd. "I was not disappointed by the reaction of the public," Reuters quoted him telling the press conference later. "They wanted to see a world record. But they must understand that I was just coming back from injury."

To put the achievement of six straight world championships into perspective, the Associated Press provided the following statistics on August 11: of the Atlanta Olympic Games champions, 25 did not even make the final eight at this year's competition in Athens.

Mr. Bubka had already set the mark for the oldest world pole vault champion in 1995. As is his wont (he is holder of 17 outdoor and 18 indoor world records) he simply nudged the limit further out.

Asked for the secret to his longevity, Mr. Bubka replied: "My main secret is that I love sport. I love the competition and the atmosphere." He added, "and I always want to be the best."

Asked by Agence France Presse what kept him going and what would come next, Mr. Bubka said: "It was my brother [Vasiliy] who motivated me, and I agreed and thought, 'No, the great Sergey Bubka is not going to leave the sport like this. I am going to do another record, and then there is Sydney. Sydney 2000.' "

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