Pole vault tsarina Elena Isinbaeva seems sure for defending her Olympic title in Beijing. The battle in the sport would be mainly for the silver and bronze.
Since taking home the Athens Olympic gold in 2004, Isinbaeva has dominated the pole vault jump, including twice best jumps in 2008 with 5.03 meters in Rome and then 5.04 meters in Monaco.
During her complete reigning in the field, she also added the gold medals from the 2005 and 2007 world championships and the 2006 European championships.
Isinbaeva's closest follower, Jennifer Stuczynski cleared 4.92 meters in 2008 as her personal best.
Svetlana Feofanova of Russia has long vaulted in Isinbaeva's shadow, but she was the last vaulter to beat Isinbaeva at a major championship when gaining world champion in 2003.
Chinese Zhou Yang, who won the gold medal at the 2006 world junior championships in Beijing. With a personal and season's best of 4.45 meters, she is unlikely to win a medal.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)