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| Pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia. |
Pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva wants to reclaim her crown as the number one exponent of her event and she will return to competition after an 11-month hiatus at Moscow’s Russian Winter indoor meeting on Sunday.
The two-times Olympic champion, holder of 15 world outdoor and 12 indoor records decided to take at the end of the last indoor season.
She cited exhaustion after having the spotlight on her almost continuously since she won her first major title at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and decided not to defend the European title she won in 2006 at last summer’s European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.
'No, I am not nervous at all. I have had several months of training with my coach Vitaly Petrov and we have prepared well for this indoor season,” commented Isinbayeva, in an interview with Reuters.
'I would say my training this winter season has been very good. What we expect in Moscow, I cannot say for 100 per cent sure but I know I am in very good shape and condition.
'So there is no need to be nervous or concerned. I am healthy and very motivated to do my best. Plus I am competing in Moscow in front of many wonderful fans and I always enjoy coming to Russia to compete.'
Isinbayeva plans to compete at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which will be held in Paris from 4-6 March also has competitions lined up in the Ukrainian city Donetsk, a European Athletics Indoor Permit Meeting, on February 12 and Stockholm on February 22.
'I like that I go to Donetsk to Sergey Bubka's Pole Vault All-Stars the following week. I have always performed well in this event and I enjoy it very much,” she added, not mentioning the fact that six of her indoor world records, including the current standard of 5.00m which she cleared in 2009, have come at this meeting.
'Then I will compete in Stockholm for my first time indoors. So that is something special for me. I have heard a lot about the surface at the arena from other vaulters so I am very interested in competing there too.'
However, her plans for the summer still remain undecided.
'We have not looked past this indoor season. I want to first re-establish myself and show that I am on top of my event again.
'Then we will look at outdoors. But of course the most important for me is Daegu (South Korea) where there will be the outdoor World Championships in August.'
'We will have to see how each competition goes and what happens. I cannot make any predictions. Every competition presents new situations and you have to adapt to the circumstances,” said Isinbayeva.