Pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, who retired in 2001, remains involved in sport as Ukraine Olympic Committee president, is a member of the International Olympic Committee and is seeking the IAAF presidency next month against British running legend Sebastian Coe.

DPA/Berlin

 
Sergey Bubka first looked back up to the bar which shook only briefly, then turned to his left and saluted the Paris fans who had just witnessed a milestone in the sport of athletics.
Only a small crowd of 4,000 had gathered on a sunny afternoon at the Stade Jean Bouin when the then 21-year-old Soviet Bubka defied gravity and soared into a new pole vault dimension with the first ever six-metre jump on July 13, 1985.
It was a moment on par with Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile back in 1954, and confirmed the start of one of the most glittering and successful athletics careers.
“I was certainly proud and happy to be the first to clear that magic height of six metres,” Bubka said in an email interview on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the milestone.
“Not too many people expected six metres to be cleared in the 20th century—it was a common thought that this height would be conquered in the early 21st century.”
“It was July 13—a night before the Bastille Day, the greatest national holiday in France. French newspapers compared my jump with the storming of Bastille. It was a good story. The journalists also compared me with Yuri Gagarin, first human to journey to the open space.
“Besides... My wife Lilya delivered our first son Vitaly four days before, on July 9th. I was a happy father, thinking of six metres as a present for my wife and newborn son.”
Bubka cleared the height in the third and last attempt, improving his own record by a massive six centimetres, and it was only fitting that it happened in France with its proud tradition in the discipline.
His previous record of 5.94m in Rome 1984 came just minutes after he had lost it to Frenchman Thierry Vigneron on 5.91m at the same meet.
Bubka has held the outdoor record ever since, raising it to a staggering 6.14m over the next nine years. His indoor mark is even higher, 6.15m, but Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie is now listed as the official world record holder by the ruling body IAAF with his 6.16m indoors from last year, in Bubka’s native Ukraine.
An unrivalled 35 world records were set by Bubka who also won a record six straight World Championship titles between 1983 and 1997. But he only has one Olympic gold, from Seoul 1988.
The 6.00m jump from Paris was Bubka’s fourth outdoor record and afterwards he started improving the mark by just one centimetre which many believe was to cash in as best as possible.
Bubka admits that “money was important for me—a man has to earn his living, to maintain his family”, but also says that 28 of his records came in the Soviet era until 1991 where athletes got only a regular salary and small bonuses.
He rather says that world records remained a challenge every time he stormed down the runway.
“The higher the bar was raised the more complicated my task was. To improve the record by one centimetre doesn’t mean you just make one jump one centimetre higher than the previous one. You have to go through the complete competitions being in the perfect shape to win it and attempt the record,” he says.
“My records may have looked easy but it is far from true—every six metres-plus jump is a serious challenge no matter how many records are in your list.”
Bubka was a world apart from this rivals as he “strived for perfection trying to make one more step forward”.
The Paris jump remains the milestone and the pole used among many he has passed on to his Sergey Bubka sports club, “to be used by the next generation of athletes”.
Bubka says he was dreaming of up to 6.25m and that his 6.01m from the Athens Worlds 1997 was the highest jump he ever performed as “I flew no less than 6.40”, according to video analysis.
Bubka was plagued by Achilles tendon injuries by then and retired in 2001. He remains involved in sport as Ukraine Olympic Committee president, is a member of the International Olympic Committee and is seeking the IAAF presidency next month against British running legend Sebastian Coe.
Looking at possible successors, Bubka names Lavillenie “a true talent, which he proved both outdoor and indoor” and “ready for new records” if he can maintain his level.
Eighteen athletes overall have cleared six metres, but while it took just 22 years to move from the first 5.00m jump by American Brian Sternberg in 1963 to Bubka’s 6.00m—the seven-metre mark appears far out of sight, at least for now.
“I can hardly imagine jumping that high. But in 1980 nobody believed six metres will be cleared in the 20th century,” Bubka says. “Seven metres may happen... in faraway future.”