Sergei Bubka
Encyclopedia
Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka ; (born 4 December 1963) is a retired Ukrainian
pole vaulter. Repeatedly voted the world's best athlete, he represented the Soviet Union
until its collapse in 1991.
Bubka won 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympics gold and broke the world record for men's pole vaulting 35 times (17 outdoor and 18 indoor records). He was the first to clear 6.0 metres and the only (as of March 2011) to clear 6.10 metres (20 ft).
He holds the current outdoor world record of 6.14 metres (20 feet 1 inches), set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere
, Italy
and the current indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk
, Ukraine.
He has a son who is a professional tennis player by the name Sergei Bubka
.
held in Helsinki
proved to be his actual entry point to the mainstream world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 metres (18 feet 8 inches). The years that followed witnessed the unparalleled dominance of Bubka, with him setting new records and standards in pole vaulting.
He set his first world record of 5.85m on 26 May 1984 which he improved to 5.88m a week later, and then to 5.90m a month later. He cleared 6.00 metres (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris
. This height had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the current world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 1 inches) in 1994.
He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 metres, in San Sebastián
, Spain
in 1991. As of February 2011, no other athlete has cleared 6.07, indoors or outdoors. He set the current world record of 6.14 metres in 1994 after some commentators had already predicted the decline of the great sportsman. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the 4 years between 1984 and 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history combined (as of 20 April 2009 there have been 42 clearances of 6.00 metres by other athletes).
Bubka officially retired from his pole vault career in 2001 with a ceremony at his Pole Vault Stars
meeting in Donetsk
.
countries. Two months before the games he vaulted 12 cm higher than the eventual Olympic gold medal winner Pierre Quinon
. In 1988 Bubka entered the Seoul Olympics
and won his only Olympic gold medal. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first 3 attempts and was out of the Barcelona Olympics
. At the Atlanta Olympics
in 1996 a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without making even one jump. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics
he was eliminated from the final after three attempts at 5.70 m.
Bubka possessed great strength, speed and gymnastic abilities. His average speed during pole vaulting approach was reportedly 35.7 km/h (9.9 m/s, 22.2 mph). He gripped the pole higher than most vaulters to get extra leverage, though Bubka himself played down the effect of grip alone. Bubka's strength meant that he could use a pole that was relatively heavy for his weight, thereby generating more recoil force.
His development and mastery of the Petrov/Bubka technical model is also considered as a key to his success. A technical model is a sequence of positions and pressures that describe the method and form of a style of pole vaulting. The Petrov/Bubka model is superior to many others today because it allows the vaulter to continuously put energy into the pole while rising towards the bar. While most of the conventional models focus on heavy planting of the pole to the landing pad to create maximum bend in the pole even before they leave the ground, the Petrov/Bubka model concentrates on driving the pole up rather than bending it while planting it on the landing pad. While the traditional models depended on the recoil by bending the pole, the Petrov/Bubka model could exploit the recoil of the pole and exert more energy on the pole during the swinging action.
Bubka is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport
, a Monaco
-based international organization.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
pole vaulter. Repeatedly voted the world's best athlete, he represented the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
until its collapse in 1991.
Bubka won 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympics gold and broke the world record for men's pole vaulting 35 times (17 outdoor and 18 indoor records). He was the first to clear 6.0 metres and the only (as of March 2011) to clear 6.10 metres (20 ft).
He holds the current outdoor world record of 6.14 metres (20 feet 1 inches), set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere
Sestriere
Sestriere is an alpine village in Italy, a comune of the Province of Turin. It is from the French border. Its name derives from Latin: ad petram sistrariam, that is at sixty Roman miles from Turin....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the current indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
, Ukraine.
Biography
Born in Voroshilovgrad (Luhans'k now), Ukraine, Bubka was a good track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but he became a world-class competitor only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, virtually unknown in international meets, he won the world championship at Helsinki, Finland, and the following year he set his first world record, clearing 5 m 75 cm (19 ft 2 in). Until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. The Soviet sports system rewarded athletes for setting new world records, and he became noted for establishing new records by slim amounts, sometimes as little as a centimeter higher. This allowed him to collect frequent bonus payments and made Bubka an attraction at track-and-field meets.He has a son who is a professional tennis player by the name Sergei Bubka
Sergei Bubka (tennis)
Sergei Bubka is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. He is a member of the Ukraine Davis Cup team and is coached by Tibor Toth, who is also the coach of Sergiy Stakhovsky...
.
Pole vaulting career
Serhiy Bubka entered international athletics in 1981 participating in the European Junior Championships where he reached 7th place. But the 1983 World Championships1983 World Championships in Athletics
The inaugural World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between August 7 and August 14, 1983....
held in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
proved to be his actual entry point to the mainstream world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 metres (18 feet 8 inches). The years that followed witnessed the unparalleled dominance of Bubka, with him setting new records and standards in pole vaulting.
He set his first world record of 5.85m on 26 May 1984 which he improved to 5.88m a week later, and then to 5.90m a month later. He cleared 6.00 metres (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. This height had long been considered unattainable. With virtually no opponents, Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the current world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 1 inches) in 1994.
He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 metres, in San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1991. As of February 2011, no other athlete has cleared 6.07, indoors or outdoors. He set the current world record of 6.14 metres in 1994 after some commentators had already predicted the decline of the great sportsman. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimetres (8 inches) in the 4 years between 1984 and 1988, more than other pole vaulters had achieved in the previous 12 years. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions, more than all other athletes in history combined (as of 20 April 2009 there have been 42 clearances of 6.00 metres by other athletes).
Bubka officially retired from his pole vault career in 2001 with a ceremony at his Pole Vault Stars
Pole Vault Stars
Pole Vault Stars is an annual indoor pole vaulting competition which is typically held in February at the Druzhba Palace of Sports in Donetsk, Ukraine. The meeting was founded in 1990 by Sergey Bubka, the pole vault world record holder who grew up in the city...
meeting in Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
.
Olympics curse
Though he had complete dominance on pole vaulting at his time, he was highly unlucky in the Olympic Games. The first Olympics after his introduction into international athletics was in 1984, which was boycotted by the USSR along with most other Eastern BlocEastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries. Two months before the games he vaulted 12 cm higher than the eventual Olympic gold medal winner Pierre Quinon
Pierre Quinon
Pierre Quinon was a pole vaulter from France.On August 28, 1983 in the German city of Cologne, he set a new world record with 5.82 metres. That day, after winning the contest, he became the first athlete to attempt to clear 6.00 metres in an official meet...
. In 1988 Bubka entered the Seoul Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
and won his only Olympic gold medal. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first 3 attempts and was out of the Barcelona Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
. At the Atlanta Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
in 1996 a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without making even one jump. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
he was eliminated from the final after three attempts at 5.70 m.
IAAF World Championships
Bubka won the pole vault event in 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships In Athletics from 1983 to 1997:| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Winning height (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | World Championships 1983 World Championships in Athletics The inaugural World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between August 7 and August 14, 1983.... |
Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... |
1st | 5.70 |
| 1987 | World Championships 1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987.-Track:1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995... |
Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... |
1st | 5.85 |
| 1991 | World Championships 1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1 and athletes from 167 countries participated in the event.The event is best-remembered for the... |
Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
1st | 5.95 |
| 1993 | World Championships 1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, Stuttgart, Germany between August 13 and August 22 with the participation of 187 nations.... |
Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... |
1st | 6.00 |
| 1995 | World Championships 1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations.... |
Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... |
1st | 5.92 |
| 1997 | World Championships 1997 World Championships in Athletics The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations... |
Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... |
1st | 6.01 |
World record progression by Bubka
Bubka broke the world record for men's pole vaulting a total of 35 times in his career. He broke the outdoor world record 17 times and the indoor world record 18 times. The fact that most of the time the record he improved was his own demonstrates his absolute dominance in the event. Exactly how high he could have jumped at his best is unknown: because of the large prizes on offer from event promoters for breaking world records, the majority of his world record attempts were made at 1 cm higher than the existing record, and once achieved, he would not attempt another record jump until the next opportunity to collect a prize, even after a substantial clearance showing he could have achieved a higher height.| Height (m) | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 6.14 | 31 July 1994 | Sestriere Sestriere Sestriere is an alpine village in Italy, a comune of the Province of Turin. It is from the French border. Its name derives from Latin: ad petram sistrariam, that is at sixty Roman miles from Turin.... |
| 6.13 | 19 September 1992 | Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
| 6.12 | 30 August 1992 | Padova |
| 6.11 | 13 June 1992 | Dijon Dijon Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area.... |
| 6.10 | 5 August 1991 | Malmö Malmö Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County... |
| 6.09 | 8 July 1991 | Formia Formia Formia is a city and comune in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio . It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way.-History:... |
| 6.08 | 9 June 1991 | Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... |
| 6.07 | 6 May 1991 | Shizuoka |
| 6.06 | 10 July 1988 | Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... |
| 6.05 | 9 June 1988 | Bratislava Bratislava Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava... |
| 6.03 | 23 June 1987 | Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... |
| 6.01 | 8 June 1986 | Moscow |
| 6.00 | 13 June 1985 | Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
| 5.94 | 31 August 1984 | Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... |
| 5.90 | 13 July 1984 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
| 5.88 | 2 June 1984 | Paris |
| 5.85 | 26 May 1984 | Bratislava |
| Height (m) | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 6.15 | 21 February 1993 | Donetsk Donetsk Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region... |
| 6.14 | 13 February 1993 | Lievin Liévin Liévin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Overview:The city of Liévin is an old mining city of Pas-de-Calais. Near Lens, this modest-sized city nevertheless has several nursery schools, schools, colleges, a university, a swimming pool, a city library, a cultural and... |
| 6.13 | 22 February 1992 | Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... |
| 6.12 | 23 February 1991 | Grenoble Grenoble Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère... |
| 6.11 | 19 March 1991 | Donetsk Donetsk Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region... |
| 6.10 | 15 March 1991 | San Sebastián San Sebastián Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its... |
| 6.08 | 9 February 1991 | Volgograd Volgograd Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River... |
| 6.05 | 17 March 1990 | Donetsk Donetsk Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region... |
| 6.03 | 11 February 1989 | Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... |
| 5.97 | 17 March 1987 | Torino |
| 5.96 | 15 January 1987 | Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... |
| 5.95 | 28 February 1986 | New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
| 5.94 | 21 February 1986 | Inglewood Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census... |
| 5.92 | 8 February 1986 | Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... |
| 5.87 | 15 January 1986 | Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... |
| 5.83 | 10 February 1984 | Inglewood Inglewood -Australia:*Inglewood, Queensland*Inglewood, Victoria*Inglewood, Western Australia-England:*Inglewood, a house in Cheshire*Inglewood Forest, Cumberland-United States:*Inglewood, California*Inglewood, Nebraska*Inglewood, Mecklenburg County, Virginia... |
| 5.82 | 1 February 1984 | Milano |
| 5.81 | 15 January 1984 | Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County... |
Technique
His development and mastery of the Petrov/Bubka technical model is also considered as a key to his success. A technical model is a sequence of positions and pressures that describe the method and form of a style of pole vaulting. The Petrov/Bubka model is superior to many others today because it allows the vaulter to continuously put energy into the pole while rising towards the bar. While most of the conventional models focus on heavy planting of the pole to the landing pad to create maximum bend in the pole even before they leave the ground, the Petrov/Bubka model concentrates on driving the pole up rather than bending it while planting it on the landing pad. While the traditional models depended on the recoil by bending the pole, the Petrov/Bubka model could exploit the recoil of the pole and exert more energy on the pole during the swinging action.
Awards and positions held
- Bubka won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports in 1991
- Bubka was awarded best sportsman of the Soviet Union for three years in a row from 1984 to 1986
- Bubka was voted Sportsman of the Year for 1997 by the influential newspaper L'ÉquipeL'ÉquipeL'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
- Bubka was honored as the best pole vaulter of the last half century by Track & Field NewsTrack & Field NewsTrack & Field News is a magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson & Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field.The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the U.S.A. from the high school to national level as well as covering the sport on an international bases. The magazine...
- Bubka was designated as an IAAF council member in 2001. In 2011, he was elected to a 4 year term as a Vice-President of the organization.
- He is currently serving as the president of National Olympic Committee of UkraineNational Olympic Committee of UkraineThe National Olympic Committee of Ukraine is responsible for Ukraine's participation in the Olympic Games. It was formed on 1990 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1993....
and is an IOCInternational Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
member - Bubka was designated UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Champion for Sport in 2003 - From 2002 to 2006, he was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament for For United UkraineFor United UkraineFor United Ukraine was a political alliance and an electoral bloc in Ukraine founded in December 2001 to participate in the parliamentary election in held on March 30, 2002.-2002 parliamentary election:...
(Regions of Ukraine faction) and its committee on questions of youth policy, physical culture, sport and tourism - Completed his term in IOC athletes commission in August 2008
Bubka is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport
Peace and Sport
Peace and Sport, "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport” is a neutral and apolitical international initiative based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco....
, a Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
-based international organization.
Quotes
- "I love the pole vault because it is a professor's sport. One must not only run and jump, but one must think. Which pole to use, which height to jump, which strategy to use. I love it because the results are immediate and the strongest is the winner. Everyone knows it. In everyday life that is difficult to prove." - Sergey Bubka
- "Here is a man who has personally altered his art form, changed the way competitors prepare for it and perform it, even the way spectators perceive it." - Gary Smith of Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
about Bubka - "My jump was imperfect, my run-in was too short and my hands were too far back at takeoff. When I manage to iron out these faults, I am sure I can improve." - In an interview after he was the first person to break 20 feet (6.1 m).