Russian pole vault legend Yelena Isinbayeva said on Monday that she had postponed plans to retire as she finished with Olympic bronze after an injury-hampered preparation for the London Games
The 30-year-old, who was foiled in her bid to seal a historic hat-trick of Olympic titles, said she was not prepared to end her career after settling for third place
between American Jennifer Suhr and Cuba’s Yarisley Silva.
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“If I thought I was going home with the bronze, I might not have come. I’m always fighting for the gold,” Isinbayeva said. “But the bronze medal is very tasteful,” beamed the Volgograd-born vaulter.
Yelena Isinbayeva reacts after her attempt on Monday. Pic/AFP
She finished third here with a best of 4.70m as Suhr took gold with 4.75m on countback from Silva in a competition made tricky by rainy conditions.
“This bronze medal is like a gold, because in the past three years from Beijing through to London, I have had a lot of difficulties to face,” Isinbayeva said.
The Russian, who was also a world champion in 2005 and 2007, said a troubled season had led her to consider her future. “I said to myself, ‘why continue?’, everything seemed impossible.
“My plan was to get gold and retire after London. But I’m not going to retire with a bronze. I’ll think about Rio (Olympics in 2016), get my gold medal and then retire.”
But she warned that her decision on her future was not set in stone. “My decision is changing every day. Today I say I’ll stop, then I wake up tomorrow, and I say I’ll continue,” she said.u00a0
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