France’s Renaud Lavillenie breaks Sergei Bubka's 21-year-old indoor pole vault world record
A combination of file pictures shows Renaud Lavillenie (left) competing in the the French C'ships in 2009 and Sergei Bubka (right) competing to win the Olympic final on September 28, 1988 in Seoul. Pic/AFP
Donetsk: Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie broke Sergei Bubka's 21-year-old indoor pole vault world record on Saturday at the same Donetsk meeting where the Ukrainian great set the old mark in 1993.
A combination of file pictures shows Renaud Lavillenie (left) competing in the the French C'ships in 2009 and Sergei Bubka (right) competing to win the Olympic final on September 28, 1988 in Seoul. Pic/AFP
Lavillenie, the Olympic champion, vaulted 6.16 metres at his first attempt to improve the record by one centimetre and to make the moment sweeter Bubka was present to witness it and was among the first to congratulate him.
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Lavillenie, who said he would like to go on and vault 6.21m, revealed he had changed his pole in between the successful attempt at 6.01m and the record vault, something he had never done before.
"It was totally crazy. I wanted to do my best," said the 27-year-old. "I asked for 6.16m because it was the best place to break the record of Sergei Bubka, 21 years after he set the mark.
"I thought it was the best place to try as the best was there," he added. Lavillenie had arrived in Donetsk in prime form having broken his own personal record twice last month.
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