In its August 2nd issue, Sports Illustrated offered its medal picks. For the women's pole vault, they were:
Gold--Svetlana Feofanova, Russia Silver--Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia Bronze--Stacy Dragila, United States This time, I can't take exception to their three medal nominees, although the order of finish is up for grabs. Here, we have three athletes who all are highly experienced in international competition. All of the three have held the world record and each has won world championships. (Dragila is the only-ever Olympic champion.) Each has improved the all-time outdoor mark in the last two months. In head-to-head competitions over the past five years, Dragila and Isinbayeva have each come out ahead ten times, Feofanova leads Dragila 19 to 11, and Feofanova leads Isinbayeva 29 to 15. As for their present readiness, I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the prospects of the three favorites and the other top three world-ranked Olympic entrants. Unlike the case of the men's vaulters, all of the world top six are expected to be in the Olympic competition. Their outdoor season marks follow. One thing I'm certain you'll notice is the relatively abbreviated outdoor season of the Russians. Whether this is an advantage remains to be seen. If I've missed an athlete who's of special interest to you, it's easy to check on them individually. Just go to Jalava's home page <http://www.tilastopaja.net> and about half-way down, you'll see a space to enter a name for the bio and season's record of any athlete on the current world list. Since the link is from the home page, it's not necessary to enter the "members only" subscription section. If someone finds time, I'd appreciate their posting similar summaries for some of the running events. Cheers, Roger ~~~~~ Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) age 22 2004 Outdoor Marks--#1 on Mirko's world list 4.87 1 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun 4.65 2 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul 4.89 1 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul >4.90 1 Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: 1999 4.05 5 EJ Riga 8 Aug 2000 4.05 7 EC Gent 27 Feb 2000 NH qOG Sydney 23 Sep 2000 4.20 1 WJ Santiago de Chile 18 Oct 2001 4.25 7 WIC Lisboa 9 Mar 2001 4.40 1 EJ Grosseto 21 Jul 2002 4.55 2 EC München 9 Aug 2003 4.60 2 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar 2003 4.65 1 EJ Bydgoszcz 19 Jul 2003 4.65 3 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug 2004 4.86 1 WIC Budapest 6 Mar ~~~~~ Svetlana Feofanova (RUS) age 24 2004 Outdoor Marks--#2 on Mirko's world list 4.60 1 ECCC-A Moskva 29 May 4.70 2 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun >4.88 1 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul 4.80 1 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul 4.69 2 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul 4.80 2 Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: 2000 4.35 1 ECp Gateshead 15 Jul 2000 NHq OG Sydney 23 Sep 2001 4.51 2= WIC Lisboa 9 Mar 2001 4.60 1 ECp Bremen 23 Jun 2001 4.75 2 WC Edmonton 6 Aug 2001 4.45 2 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep 2002 4.75 1 EC Wien 3 Mar 2002 4.70 1 ECp Annecy 22 Jun 2002 4.60 1 EC München 9 Aug 2002 4.40 2 WCp Madrid 20 Sep 2003 4.80 1 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar 2003 4.75 1 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug 2004 4.70 3 WIC Budapest 6 Mar ~~~~~ Stacy Dragila (USA) age 33 2004 Outdoor Marks--#3 on Mirko's world list 4.70 1 Twilight El Paso TX 1 May 4.55 1c2 ModR Modesto CA 8 May 4.60 2 Sky Inv Phoenix AZ 14 May 4.70 1 US Open Stanford CA 31 May 4.50 1 GP Sevilla 5 Jun >4.83 1 GSpike Ostrava 8 Jun 4.78 1 Askina 11 Jun 4.55 1 DLV Erfurt 13 Jun 4.70 1 Pre Eugene OR 19 Jun 4.75 1 OT Sacramento CA 18 Jul 4.57 3 3Nat Birmingham 25 Jul 4.60 4 Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: 1997 4.40 1 WC Paris 9 Mar 1998 NH GWG Uniondale NY 19 Jul 1999 4.35 8 WIC Maebashi 5 Mar 1999 4.60 1 WC Sevilla 21 Aug 2000 4.60 1 OG Sydney 25 Sep 2001 4.51 4 WIC Lisboa 9 Mar 2001 4.75 1 WC Edmonton 6 Aug 2001 4.55 1 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep 2003 NHq WIC Birmingham 15 Mar 2003 4.55 4= WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug 2004 4.81 2 WIC Budapest 6 Mar ~~~~~ Anna Rogowska (POL) age 23 2004 Outdoor Marks--#4 on Mirko's world list 4.50 1 Dunecki Bydgoszcz 16 May 4.40 1 Saulheim 29 May 4.30 3 GP Sevilla 5 Jun 4.50 2 Kusoc Warszawa 13 Jun 4.40 1 Hof 19 Jun 4.60 3 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun 4.45 2 NC Bydgoszcz 2 Jul 4.65 3 Tsiklitiria Iráklio 4 Jul 4.40 5 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul >4.71 1 Thess 2004 Thessaloníki 19 Jul 4.60 3 Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: Pole vault 2002 4.20 12= EC Wien 1 Mar 2003 4.35 6= WIC Birmingham 16 Mar 2003 4.45 7 WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug 2004 4.40 7 WIC Budapest 6 Mar ~~~~~ Kellie Suttle (USA) age 31 2004 Outdoor Marks--#5 on Mirko's world list 4.35 3=c2 ModR Modesto CA 8 May 4.50 3 Sky Inv Phoenix AZ 14 May 4.00 5 Home Depot Carson CA 22 May 4.64 1 Jonesboro AR 27 May 4.30 5= US Open Stanford CA 31 May 4.10 7 Adidas Gresham OR 5 Jun >4.67 1 Jonesboro AR 16 Jun 4.50 3 Pre Eugene OR 19 Jun 4.56 1 High Perf Provo UT 25 Jun 4.55 3 OT Sacramento CA 18 Jul 4.30 6 Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: 1998 4.10 6 GWG Uniondale NY 19 Jul 1999 4.25 2 PAG Winnipeg 25 Jul 1999 4.35 9 WC Sevilla 21 Aug 2000 4.00 11 OG Sydney 25 Sep 2001 4.51 2= WIC Lisboa 9 Mar 2001 4.20 5 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep 2003 4.45 4 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar 2003 4.10 4 PAG Santo Domingo 9 Aug ~~~~~ Monika Pyrek (POL) age 24 2004 Outdoor Marks--#6 on Mirko's world list 4.60 1 Biala Podlaska 29 May 4.40 3 GSpike Ostrava 8 Jun 4.50 1 Kusoc Warszawa 13 Jun 4.40 2 ECp Bydgoszcz 19 Jun 4.40 5 Norw Union Gateshead 27 Jun 4.45 1 NC Bydgoszcz 2 Jul 4.55 4 Tsiklitiri Iráklio 4 Jul 4.50 2 Salamanca 13 Jul 4.60 3 Madrid 2004 Madrid 17 Jul NH Norw Union London 30 Jul in Major Championships: Pole vault 1997 3.80 10 EJ Ljubljana 27 Jul 1998 4.10 3 WJ Annecy 29 Jul 1998 4.15 7 EC Budapest 21 Aug 1999 4.20 11 WIC Maebashi 5 Mar 1999 4.10 4 EJ Riga 8 Aug 2000 4.20q EC Gent 25 Feb 2000 4.40 7 OG Sydney 25 Sep 2001 4.40 1 EJ Amsterdam 14 Jul 2001 4.55 3 WC Edmonton 6 Aug 2001 4.35 4 GWG Brisbane 5 Sep 2002 4.60 3 EC Wien 3 Mar 2002 4.20 4 ECp Annecy 22 Jun 2002 4.30 5qB EC München 7 Aug 2003 4.45 3 WIC Birmingham 16 Mar 2003 4.55 4= WC Saint-Denis 25 Aug 2004 4.50 5 WIC Budapest 6 Mar 2004 4.40 2 ECp Bydgoszcz 19 Jun
