ZURICH, (Reuters) – Olympic women’s pole vault champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva has blamed her flop at the Berlin world championships on over-confidence.
“I just thought I would take another gold medal and another world record. It was like a daily job,” the Russian told a news conference on the eve of today’s Zurich Golden League meeting. “I didn’t feel like I was competing.”
Isinbayeva, 27, left last week’s world championships in Berlin in tears after failing with all three attempts, leaving Poland’s Anna Rogowska to claim victory.
Isinbayeva has won the last four global titles, claiming gold at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and 2005 and 2007 world championships as well as a host of European and indoor titles. “Maybe I was a bit over-confident,” said Isinbayeva. “I thought it was just going to be for me. I lost concentration and I was too relaxed.
“Before Berlin, my wins were nothing special, almost nothing. But now I will value them more. It’s good to be reminded that this is sport and the unexpected can happen.”
