The clock had ticked over to Wednesday when a little side door opened and Yelena Isinbayeva left the Luzhniki stadium to the sound of Russian folk music and the light of camera flashes from a few dozen faithful who had waited patiently until late into the night.
What exactly happened from then on is not known, but Russian pole vault queen Isinbayeva was determined to celebrate her third world title in grand style. “We will go to the night clubs, all the restaurants and celebrate big time!” she had earlier told a packed news conference.
Isinbayeva thinks big on and off the pole vault runaway, which she has turned into her personal catwalk as she draws admiration from crowds around the world for her flirtatious charm and gravity-defying results.
Three world titles, two Olympic golds and 28 world records are the major merits of the 31-year-old from Volgagrad, for whom only the sky is the limit. On Tuesday she got a hug from Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and a telegram from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
The title stood out because it was won at home and was possibly her final big event. Moreover, she had not topped a major championship since the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Isinbayeva is now taking a break to become a mother but aims to return for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The baby’s father is a closely-kept secret, much like the words she mutters to her pole ahead of her vaults.
Isinbayeva is considered the face of athletics, along with Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt. She says of herself that she is “the best women’s athlete in the world.” How she will cope with her new life as a mother, however, remains to be seen.
“I will go into temporary women’s life with the total satisfaction that I gave it all in sport,” she said. “My life after sport will not be as bright as in sport. I will have wins in my life such as childbirth, a family, and how to be a wife. It is hard to imagine. What am I to do when I am pregnant? Be a coach potato and eat sweets?”
Having revealed that she will act as the major of the Sochi 2014 Olympics village, Isinbayeva said: “2014 will be my VIP year. I will be a big shot. I will run around like a pregnant penguin, will be mayor of the Olympic village, play host...”
Should Isinbayeva decide not to return to vaulting, many doors in Russia and the world will be open for her. Apart from the Olympic job, she was also on the Russian delegation which pitched for the 2018 football World Cup before the ruling body FIFA, and won.
As Russia hailed its heroine, the Sport Express paper named her a “lucky bird”. After ruling the sport between 2004 and 2009, she had had several setbacks, then took breaks and returned to her long-time coach Yevgeny Trofimov, who finally got her back on track to what has become arguably her biggest career moment.
“He resurrected me,” she said as she heaped praise on the trainer once victory—with a jump of 4.89 metres—was assured. “This is my dearest medal.”
The opposition, relegated to extras in the Isinbayeva show, publicly heaped praise on her. But they may now be quietly hoping that she won’t come back.
“If you see how the pole vault was and where it stands now, then we all have to thank Yelena,” said Olympic champion Jennifer Suhr of the United States. Cuban bronze medallist Yarisley Silva added: “It would be nice if I could also one day end my career in the same way as her.”
But the former gymnast appears to be open about her future, pointing out that she is a Gemini—“the most easily changing sign of the zodiac”. “Even if I don’t come back I will leave with a clear consciousness. I will have left a bright trace,” she said.