Sergei bubka biography

1963-

Ukrainian pole vaulter

In his 18-year career, pole vaulter Sergei Bubka set the world record 35 times, won gold medals at six consecutive world championships, and won an Olympic gold medal in Seoul in 1988. He is widely considered to be the greatest pole vaulter in history, and is the only person ever to clear a bar 20 feet overhead.

"One of Athletics' Most Anticipated Events"

Bubka was born to a working-class family in Voroshilovgrad in what was then the Soviet Union in 1963. His father, Nazar, was a member of the Soviet Army, and expected military-style discipline from Bubka and his brother, Vasily. Bubka's mother, Valentina, worked in a hospital.

Bubka's first exposure to pole vaulting came when he was nine years old; a friend invited him to join a vaulting club. Coaches there noted that he had talent, and he soon began training with coach Vitaly Petrov. Although Bubka's father tried to force him to quit, he continued to train.

Bubka's parents divorced when he was 15, and he went to live with Vasily in a factory dormitory in Donetsk, a manufacturing city. In Donetsk, Bubka continued to train with Petrov and went to school. In 1983, Bubka won his first world championship, beginning a long reign as the best in the sport. Before he entered the field, pole vaulting was a relatively obscure sport, like many other field events, and was rarely broadcast or publicized. However, according to Kevin B. Blackistone in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, Bubka "transformed the pole vault into one of athletics' most anticipated events.… a raucous, hand-clapping, crowd-energizing event."

Blackistone noted that at a meet in London in 1984, the bar was set at 18-8. Bubka soared over it by a foot

and a half. It was moved to 19-4. Bubka cleared it by eight inches. Polish vaulter Tadeusz Slusarski, who had won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and a silver in 1980, watched this and predicted to American vaulter Larry Jessee that they

Sergey Bubka (born December 4, 1963) is a former Ukrainian world record-setting pole vaulter who won a gold medal during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He represented the Soviet Union until 1991. When he was nine years old, he took up athletics in 1973 in which he started doing sprints and long jumping. By 1974, he switched to pole vaulting. Sergey Bubka first competed internationally as a senior at the 1983 World Championship. In 2001, he retired to embark on a career in sports administration and politics. He became a member of the IOC Athlete’s Commission, became president of the Ukrainian NOC and became a full member of the IOC in 2005.

Greatest Sporting Achievements

Despite Bubka’s dominance, he struggled at the Olympics, only winning one gold medal. He won six gold medals for the World Championship, four gold medals for the World Indoor Championship and two gold medals for the European Championships and Goodwill Games respectively. He also broke the world record for men’s pole vault 35 times, outdoor world record 17 times and indoor world record 18 times and usually only bettering it by just a centimeter.

Why Was He So Good?

Sergey Bubka possessed strength, swiftness and gymnastic skills. He reigned for more than four decades. The Petrov/Bubka technical model is named after him and it is said that his development and mastery of it is one of the keys to his success. He was determined in his sport, breaking his own world records by merely a centimeter higher. "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."

What You May Not Know

• Bubka’s average speed during pole vaulting was reportedly to be 35.7 km/h or 99 m/s or 22.2 mph.
• He ran for IOC President in 2013 but lost to Thomas Bach.
• From 2000 until 2007, Sergey Bubka became IOC Executive Board athlete’s representative and became a member of the board since 2

Sergey Bubka is considered by many athletics historians as the most dominant pole vaulter of all-time. Bubka took up athletics in 1973 at age nine and initially did sprints and long jumping, but switched to pole vaulting in 1974. He was the first athlete to use the Petrov/Bubka technique, partly named for his coach, which allowed him to grip the pole higher than most vaulters.

Bubka first competed internationally as a senior at the 1983 World Championships, where he emerged victorious. He went on to win five more World titles in 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997. Despite his dominance, however, Bubka struggled at the Olympics, and won only one medal. After missing the 1984 Games due to the Soviet boycott and placing second in the pole vault at the Friendship Games, Bubka won an expected gold medal in Seoul in 1988. In Barcelona in 1992, however, Bubka was one of the Games’ major disappointments, missing his starting height in the final. Injury prevented him from competing in Atlanta, and at the Sydney Games in 2000, by then past his prime, he was eliminated in qualification.

Bubka won numeous other titles, including the World Indoors in 1985, 1987, 1991 and 1995; the 1986 European title; the 1985, 1987, 1991 and 1995 European Indoors; the 1986 Goodwill Games; the 1985 World Cup; the 1985 European Cup; and the 1985 and 1997 Grand Prix finals. He also broke the world record 28 times (17 outdoor, 11 indoor), usually bettering it by just a centimetre, as he collected bonus money for each improvement. He broke his first world record in May 1984 (5.85) and was the first vaulter to clear 6 metres in June 1985, in Paris; and 20 feet (6.10) in August 1991 in Malmö, Sweden. Bubka set his final world record of 6.15 in February 1993 in Donetsk which stood almost 21 years.

Bubka retired from athletics in 2001 and then embarked on a career in sports administration and politics. Already a member of the IOC Athlete’s Commission, he became president of the Ukrainian NOC and a fu